Tsuki's Maverick
by ShadowedNara
Summary: Naruto's been inconspicuously living away from Konoha for his entire life, having long since been thought dead by the select few who even knew of his birth. With the Chūnin Exams right around the corner, he unwittingly makes his way back home for the first time in thirteen years! AU-ish. Rated T for language and later events. !Discontinued!
1. Prologue

_**AN: Hey guys, another idea for a FanFic; I currently have a little case of writer's block with my other story, so I'm writing this one to try and get it out of my head so I can get back to my other story. **_

_**This is a little idea that I came up with one night before bed, and it's been bugging me for ages. I'm posting up the first chapter, see what you guys think and then I'll decide whether to carry on with it. If you have any questions regarding things in the story, or perhaps you don't like how I've written something or something is plausible, let me know, and I'll try and fix or explain it to you. I have added all english translations into brackets beside some things that are Japanese, I know some of you might find it annoying, but for those first time readers, it's a bit of an adjustment getting used to some Japanese terms. Those of you who don't like it... tough.**_

_**Now that that's out of the way, please continue with the story...**_

_**LAST EDIT: (24/11/2014) - Changes to all chapter sizes.  
**_

**Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

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_Chapter 1: Prologue_

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"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

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_Somewhere in Tsuki no Kuni __**(Land of the Moon)...**_

* * *

The water of the Kaijū Ocean sounded out with a roar as the billowing waves of the sea crashed against the sandy shoreline with wanton abandon, sending up a shower of cool salty water into the air. White foam bubbled out at the edge of the sea water's reach, receding back into the blue mass that was the ocean as the sea prepared to pepper the shoreline with another barrage.

It was truly an amazing sight to watch as the gargantuan body of water was able to, without fail, send wave after wave crashing back against the white sand of the shore with practised ease. The melodious sound of the water rocking rhythmically back and forth against the sand was more than enough to lull someone into a tranquil sleep. However, for an inhabitant of this beautiful island setting, this everyday luxury was nothing more than a simple lunch break from a normal island life in the settlements located towards the centre of the island.

Despite the fact that they were on a secluded land mass in the middle of the ocean, with the nearest body of land being another island as well, the infrastructure of this island was impressively modern. It was a very sought out tourist destination, where only the moderately well-off individuals would be able to experience the delights and pleasures it had to offer. But having lived on this island for all his life; or for as long as he could remember anyways; this place was nothing special. Sure it had beautiful forests, top class hotels and resorts, and out-of-this-world views – or that's what it said in the brochures at least – but from his perspective, the forests were no more special than any other. The hotels and resorts were no more spectacular and luxurious than other spas and resorts that he'd seen or heard of. Granted, he'd never been off the island himself, but he had heard his fair share on hotels from other lands during his life here in Tsuki.

This place was, simply put... home. Home for one 13 years old Naruto Uzumaki, who was clad in a sleeveless vermilion vest with black stripes along the shoulders, a pair of blue trousers and blue shinobi sandals. He had messy blonde hair with a few stray bangs hanging across his forehead, along with three whisker marks on each cheek that were noted as birth marks by many; a birth mark which people said he supposedly received from his clan. In his left ear lobe were two identical golden-looped earrings; a characteristic which was shared by his best friend; and tied around his left bicep was a black bandana.

Thinking back though, considering this place home wasn't always the case for Naruto. Not up until four to five years ago at least...

_(Flashback)_

_It was a blisteringly hot day out in Tsuki no Kuni as per the norm. The sun was beating down upon the inhabitants of the island relentlessly, the only reprieve for Naruto being the small amounts of shade granted by the stalls of some wandering merchants who'd decided to set up shop in this section of town today; the section that was adjacent to the island's harbour. _

_An eight year old Naruto was currently lounging underneath the table of a shop owner's stall, using the merchant's mobile store as a shield from the unwieldy sun. The small blonde was clad in a browning white shirt with several rips and tears in the material, and was wearing a pair of blue shorts that were torn and frilled at the edges, with a stray hole in the material every now and then. He was wearing a pair of brown sandals that were stained lighter than what they should've been due to overexposure to the sun's harmful rays, and his hair was a much darker blonde than it should've been because of his inability to get a proper shower._

_He was lying safely underneath the stall, hidden by the table cloth, with said stall's owner being completely unaware of Naruto's current position. Had the owner known there was a small homeless boy using his stall as a pit stop, the consequences would have been severe to say the least. The merchants did not take kindly to the homeless. This was mainly due to the fact that said homeless individuals would constantly steal from the merchants, but such was the life in Tsuki no Kuni. _

_But fortunately for the blonde haired youth, getting caught at the moment was not an issue. He was out of sight and out of mind in his current lodgings, soaking up as much of the shade as he could while he was still undiscovered. Him being spotted would lead to a lot of running and expending of unnecessary energy trying to get away, so remaining quiet and absolutely still was of utmost importance in his current situation. _

_He had been living on the streets of Tsuki no Kuni for as long as he could remember. He didn't know how he had managed to survive as an infant, or whether he ever had parents or someone that looked after him when he himself couldn't. But when you found yourself living on the streets, you couldn't dwell on such things. There was neither the time nor the desire to know those kinds of details when you were roughing it out in the slums, so to speak. _

_Every day was a constant struggle for survival: scavenging for food, finding roofed places to sleep for the night, hunting down possible sources of clean water. The life of a homeless was an unfavourable one; a life that he'd sadly become quite accustomed to. If he had to be blatantly honest with himself though, life on this island could have been a lot worse for him. He'd **seen** people a lot worse off than him – people without clothes, without food, covered in dirt, boils and cysts, bones visibly protruding out their bodies due to severe malnutrition and starvation. The list just went on and on. _

_But he'd discovered at a young age that he had an uncanny ability for moving around stealthily enough to get what he needed, when he needed it. Now, some people might call what he was referring to as stealing. But in the eyes of a homeless person, and in his young mind, he liked to refer to it as 'borrowing indefinitely'. Nevertheless, at the impressionable age of eight, he was an old hand at swiping small amounts of food, water, items of clothing; anything that he needed, he could get it with practised dexterity, which in hind sight, was pretty scary. _

_He was currently leaning against the leg of a table that was draped with a white table cloth, shielding him from the sunlight as well as the eyes of the stall owner who was sitting on a chair a couple meters ahead of him. From just beneath the table cloth he could keep a watchful eye on the legs of the owner, so if need be he could turn tail and run. But he hadn't been caught in ages, so he wasn't counting on getting caught today. _

_He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second and let out a blissful sigh as he brought the small canteen of cool water in his hands up to his lips; a canteen that he had relieved from another store owner only an hour ago. He let the cold liquid slide down the back of his throat and took another few sips before twisting the lid back on and placing it in the backpack he had laying on the ground beside him. He sat his head back against the table leg and was about to close his eyes again when he heard the sound of feet and hooves crashing loudly against the ground, with shouts from the Tsuki no Kuni's Royal Guard and the shouts of a boy following closely behind them. However, it was the boy's shout that gave him pause. It was a shout that he recognised as one of the other younger homeless boys he frequented with when 'borrowing' things from people. It was Shūhei!_

_Shūhei was a small seven year old boy (just several months younger than Naruto) with teal-green eyes and dark brown hair, with his bangs falling naturally into a middle-parted curtain-type style. He also had a tanned complexion that was similar in comparison to Naruto's. He was wearing a pair of raggy brown trousers with a simple pair of brown shoes, and he had on a green shirt with small string tassels at the collar. _

_Grabbing what little belongings he had and slapping his backpack over his shoulder, Naruto scrambled out the back of the table cloth so as not to be seen by the shop owner and took off in a dash towards the area where he heard the shout of his good friend coming from, swaying and swerving through the crowds of people as he kept up his relentless pace. 'What has he gotten himself into this time...' he frantically wondered, sighing heavily in his thoughts. _

_He rounded a corner and was met with the sight of his homeless friend, Shūhei, lying on the ground while propped up on his elbows and completely surrounded by guards. He was looking up fearfully at one of the King's men, who was angrily glaring down at the boy from atop his horse with a hand gripping tightly on the hilt of his sword, preparing to draw said sword and strike the boy down for getting in his way and causing him to fall off his horse earlier. _

_A little ways behind Shūhei and the angry guard was the newly promoted captain of Tsuki no Kuni's military, a man named Korega, if Naruto remembered correctly. He had been inducted the day before and there had been a massive ceremony, a ceremony where he and Shūhei had sneakily helped themselves to the delicacies of the island. It had been a good day to say the least. Behind the captain was the king of Tsuki no Kuni himself, Tsuki Kakeru, as well as his long time friend and minister Shabadaba, both of whom were riding on horseback and taking a tour through the towns of the island that day; for what reason Naruto had no idea though._

_Naruto ignored them though and reached backwards into his bag frantically, pulling out the first thing his hands found, which just so happened to be a fresh green pear that he had swiped that morning from a fruit cart. He looked back towards the commotion and saw that the guard was holding his sword above his head with the intent to kill his friend clearly etched on his face. Shūhei was looking up with wide, fearful eyes at his evident demise, trying futilely to back away, but only hitting his back against the legs of the other guards that were surrounding him. Naruto narrowed his eyes and drew his arm back before launching the fresh green fruit straight at the offending guard's face with as much strength as he could muster, hitting home with an audible thud. _

_The guard turned his hateful glare towards the newest pest, a blonde haired boy that looked to be homeless as well, roaring angrily as he made a lunge for the offender. "Get back here you little shit! You'll pay for this with your life! Guards, seize them!"_

_Naruto ducked and weaved under the offending arm's of the guards and quickly grabbed Shūhei around his waist, hurriedly pulling him to his feet and taking off in a mad dash towards a building with wooden beams jutting out the side of the wall, making for a perfect climbing surface. "Run Shūhei! Hurry, get up the wall! Now!" Shūhei only had time to blink before he was shoved forward and started running towards the building for his life, clambering up the wall using the wooden beams jutting out the side of it for support to reach the top. _

_Once they reached the flat of the roof, they rounded their very first corner and Naruto flung them both behind a small wall, shushing his friend immediately. "Stay here," Naruto barely whispered, pushing Shūhei into an enclosed space on top of the roof and making sure that he understood. With a shaky nod from his friend, he ran out from behind the cover and got the guards' attention, springing away from Shūhei's direct vicinity and leading the guards in the opposite direction. "I'm over here you assholes! Try and keep up will ya?" he taunted mockingly with a grin on his face, turning tail and vaulting over a wall with refined ease._

_He landed on the other side of the high wall with an expert roll to comfort the high drop and navigated his way across the rooftops. He ran at top speed along the edges of the roof of each building he crossed before noticing that his tail wasn't letting up one bit, in fact... 'They're gaining on me!' he thought frantically, his eyes darting everywhere to look for a possible escape route. He came to the end of a rather high building and launched himself to the roof of a building that was give or take four metres away from his position, landing with another cushioning roll and using the momentum to shoot forward at top speed once again, hoping that the guards would be too weighed down by their gear to make that last jump. _

_Glancing backwards, he gleefully noticed the absence of chasing guards, so with his immediate tail lost, he dropped back down to ground level by wall jumping between two closely separated buildings, effectively slowing down his descent so as to avoid a mortal wound on the way down. A wound like that would definitely allow the guards to reach him and inflict Kami-knows how much pain for that stunt he had pulled with the pear. 'At least Shūhei is safe now...' he thought with relief, glancing back in the direction of his friend. _

_Shūhei had taken a bit of a shine to Naruto back when they had first met, and although they didn't always move around as a pair during the day, they would meet up every night and stay together in the same general area, sleeping wherever they could find a spot. Despite the situation he was in, he found himself snickering at the thought, momentarily reminiscing the few years past with his good friend by his side, all their joint 'borrowing' sessions springing to mind. _

_Naruto's momentary lapse in concentration seemed to prove fatal though as a guard suddenly popped up in front of him and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, using his much bigger build and weight to keep Naruto's small frame under control. Naruto wasn't easily deterred though, and he wasn't going down without a fight, so he continued to thrash around frantically while kicking his legs out and flailing his arms wildly, trying to shove the hulking guard away from his body. "Let go of me you asshole! You're going to regret messing with me and my friend!"_

_The guard currently holding Naruto down chuckled evilly at his prisoner's expense, taking great amusement in his prisoner's continued attempts to free himself from his grasp. "Is that so? I'm trembling with fear," the guard sneered sarcastically, letting out a bellow of laughter as he made his way back to the market square where the rest of his men were. _

_Naruto growled dangerously and threw his head back, smashing his skull into the nose of the guard holding him down, sending blood gushing out of his now-paining and bleeding appendage. "Ahh! You little fucker! I'll rip you to shreds!" The guard threw Naruto to the ground and enlisted the help of a few of his men to keep him down, successfully restraining the blonde haired 'fucker'; as they took to calling him now; and forced the boy's arms out in front of him. The guard readied his sword in his right hand, preparing to dismember Naruto and forcefully remove both of his arms with his blade. He raised the sword up high and sent a malignant glare in the boy's direction, his brows turning down in a glare and his teeth exposing themselves as he growled. _

_"In the King's name!" he started loudly, before being cut off by a hand grabbing his raised arm from behind. He whipped his head around and was about to assault whoever had dared to interfere with his business before spotting the supposed interloper and immediately dropping himself to his knees along with his sword. "King Tsuki..." he began, only to be cut off again as the king raised his hand to silence him. _

_The king put his hand down once silence ensued and looked over all the guards around him with a calculating gaze. "Is this what has become of the Royal Guard of this island? Have you all fallen so low, fallen so corrupt with your power that you are attempting to inflict harm unto those who you have been enlisted to protect? Attempting to inflict harm unto those who you have sworn an oath to shelter from harm's hand?" he asked rhetorically, glaring seriously at the guards who were supposed to be this island's protectors. He turned his gaze to his newly appointed captain and sent him a firm nod, silently telling him that he had a lot of work to do to whip the military back into shape. _

_The previous captain had been a deranged man, a psychopath who had instilled a sense of superiority amongst the current ranks of the military, something which the king had promoted captain Korega for in order to right the previous captain's wrongs. He knew what kind of man Korega was, and he had complete faith in his ability to fix this problem; the military's problem of thinking themselves superior to everyone around them. That problem also being the very reason for the king's visits into the smaller towns of Tsuki no Kuni today, where the heart of the problem resided. _

_With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the guards and turned back down to the blonde boy who he had watched from when the start of the scuffle had begun right up until the end, watching as another brown haired boy came sidling up to the blonde one's side and helped him up. The boy the blonde had been protecting, he thought quickly. "What is your name boy?" asked the king curiously, carefully watching the emotions that played through the whiskered boy's defiant blue eyes. _

_The boy stood his ground in front of the king with a calm collectedness, the fire in his eyes burning brightly as he put a hand in front of the other younger boy protectively. He stared down at the boy's sparkling cerulean blue eyes; eyes that held no fear of defying the Royal Guard or fear of the consequences that would arise from defying them in order to protect what was precious to him. The king regarded the boy with a high level of respect, admiring his unwavering determination to protect his friend, going so far as to throw his food at the guard, even though he was clearly starving if his small body was anything to go by. _

_Naruto stood his ground and shrugged his backpack, making sure it was attached properly in case he needed to run again and get the hell out of dodge with Shūhei in tow. He turned his calculating gaze up into the king's warm eyes and answered the question firmly. "Uzumaki Naruto," he stated before gesturing to the boy to his left. "And this is my friend, Shūhei." The younger brown haired boy nodded his head timidly towards the king, averting his gaze when the spotlight was pointed at him and hiding further behind Naruto's back. _

_The king nodded his head towards the boy and looked around for a moment before training his gaze back down on the two youths. "What of your parents, child?" The blonde boy's eyes played through a multitude of emotions and his determination wavered for but a split second before his stronger forefront of defiance was back on his face. A split second was all the king needed though to realise that these two boys were in fact homeless and without parents, getting him to look down woefully. It was such a shame, the amount of people who resided in this town that were without homes and without families. This island was in dire need of better orphanage facilities and better living conditions, and he was planning to tackle this problem of homeless individuals head on. He was trying to create an island where everyone was equal, where everyone would have a somewhat decent standard of living. _

_He focused his eyes back on the two boys and his gaze softened. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a green pear, rolling it around in his fingers for a bit before tossing it down to the blonde boy and watching as he caught it with a momentary look of surprise on his face, recognising the pear as the one he had thrown earlier at the offending guard. _

_The king dismounted his horse and slowly walked towards the two boys, making sure not to make any sudden movements in case he scared them. They had just been assaulted by **his** Royal Guard, so he couldn't blame them if they were slightly jumpy and mistrusting of him. He stopped in front of them and knelt down, putting a hand on both boys' shoulders and looking into both of their eyes, giving them a warm smile. "I admire your courage and bravery to protect your friend, a daring trait which I can respect. You care for your friend's well being, and that is exactly what I would like to instil among the people of this island: a sense of compassion and benevolence."_

_He watched as they took in the information; or tried to take it in as best as a seven and eight year old boy could at least; slowly releasing a small amount of the tension in their muscles as they relaxed ever so slightly in the presence of their king. He looked out towards the ocean where the sun was descending behind the horizon, sending beams of orange sunlight glistening across the surface of the all-blue surrounding the island as he spoke softly. "I can see the kindness in your heart and your selfless-to-a-fault nature. It's spilling out at the seams, so-to-speak, and I would like to make an offer to you both," he half inquired while continuing to stare out at the ocean, watching as they both slowly nodded to signify that they were both listening intently to the king standing before them. He squeezed reassuringly on their shoulders, being careful not to seem hostile in any way to frighten them, before staring down into their eyes again. "I would like for you both to come and live with me and my family in my castle." _

_Their eyes widened at the proposed offer, and they were honestly left completely speechless at the question, both of their jaws hanging slightly agape. "You do not have to answer right away, but I will be returning tomorrow to this part town to come and run an errand, and you can inform me of your decision then. I hope to see you two tomorrow," he spoke warmly, ruffling both of their heads before remounting his horse, turning around and proceeding out of the town. _

_The king saw something special in the two boys that day. Something which reminded him of what he was trying to accomplish on this island with his reign as king. Naruto and Shūhei had accepted the king's offer that day, and have never looked back since..._

_(Flashback End)_

He smiled warmly as he thought back to the day when he and Shūhei had accepted the king's offer without really needing to decide whether they were going to it the offer or not. They were homeless people that were forced to live off the street for as long as they could remember. They were offered a home to stay in where they would get food and clothes without the need to resort to steali-... 'borrowing indefinitely'. Naturally, they accepted the offer without batting an eye lid, and they had been better off ever since.

It hadn't taken them long at all to get settled in with the king's small family. His family consisted of his son and the next king-to-be of Tsuki no Kuni, Michiru, and Michiru's son and the king's grandson, Hikaru, who was also the prince-to-be of Tsuki no Kuni. When Naruto and Shūhei had first arrived at the castle, the boy Hikaru had been, to put it bluntly, a bit of a spoiled brat, being very selfish in nature and extremely dependant on others. The same could be said about his father Michiru, who had picked up a significant amount of weight during their stay since the time when they first arrived in the castle.

But with Naruto and Shūhei being from the streets, they had a completely different kind of personality and outlook towards certain things, cherishing everything that was now freely accessible to them, never once showing a shred of ungratefulness for anything that was put in front of them. The attitude that the two previously-homeless boys had upon being taken into the Tsuki's home rubbed off on Michiru and Hikaru, changing them for the better over the course of the four years that they'd up until now spent together in the castle.

They'd gotten extremely lucky that day when they were asked if they wanted to go and live in the castle with the king. They couldn't thank King Kakeru enough after taking them in. They were eternally indebted to him.

Naruto leaned forward from the tree he was leaning against and stretched his arms out far and wide, rejoicing in the feeling of his bones and joints popping back into place. Smacking his lips together lazily, he settled back down against the base of the palm tree he was resting against and closed his eyes, breathing softly as he just lay there and listened to the sounds of the crashing waves and the odd seagull that would come cawing overhead. 'It's peaceful, isn't it Kurama,' he said to the fox within his mind softly, sighing contentedly as he took in another breath of fresh sea air.

He heard the fox hum in agreement from within his mind, feeling as he let out a content sigh of his own. Thinking of Kurama brought another memory back to him... back to when he was still seven years old and living on the streets... back to the time when he had first met the fox that was living inside him...

_(Flashback)_

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

_Naruto groaned irritably as the continued sound of water dripping on water sounded out around him, annoying him to no end. It was **way** too damn early for this. "Can somebody **please** close that damn tap!" he roared angrily, grunting in satisfaction when the sound finally ceased. He snuggled into himself a little further and tried to reacquaint himself with the sleep that was so rudely interrupted earlier, letting out a long breath and resuming his attempts to enter a deep sleep. _

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

_A tick mark forming on his head, Naruto growled lowly again and shot up from his position with his fists balled and his eyes narrowed dangerously. "For the love of-..." He stopped midway through his growling though as he took that moment to look around at his surroundings, taking note of the fact that he wasn't where he thought he'd be. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep in the alleyway of two tall buildings, wrapped tightly within a blanket he'd 'borrowed'. _

_Balling his fists up and rubbing them over his eyes several times to clear out the sleep, he opened his eyes wider this time and found himself sitting in the middle of what appeared to be an underground sewer system of sorts – 'appeared', because there was a lack of a distinct foul smelling odour. _

_"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, listening as his voice echoed and bounced off of the walls around him and into the distance. He looked left, and then right, and then left again. There were pipes running along the walls going in both directions, and there were doors scattered across the walls every few metres. But to his left, there seemed to be a light emanating from somewhere in that direction, and he couldn't place this nagging feeling in the back of his mind that was urging him to go left. _

_With nothing to lose and a quick shrug of the shoulders, he stood up slowly and trudged off to his left, following the light and his gut instinct as he passed through similar tunnels for what felt like an hour. He began wondering if maybe he'd taken a wrong turn back a few meters, but realised that he didn't actually know where **here** was, so even if he had taken a wrong turn, he wouldn't have the faintest idea. He couldn't help but feel that maybe he was going in circles. Everything looked exactly the same, and he had turned left more times than he could count. In fact, thinking back, he had only been turning left this entire time! _

_He sighed irritably, ready to turn back around and attempt to retrace his steps before he happened upon a room that he hadn't come across yet. To put it bluntly, the room was massively huge. No, gi-fucking-normous. Like, gargantuanly-gigantic. He didn't even know where he was pulling all those synonyms from. Hell, he didn't even know what a synonym was. _

_He shook his head and looked back out towards all the corners of the room. The pipes from the passage ways he'd been in earlier all seemed to converge in this one room. There were doors leading back into the passage ways at various other points around the left and right walls of the room, with all the pipes jutting out the doorways leading straight into a hole in the ceiling. That wasn't even the strange thing. Yeah, despite being in a sewer with no recollection of how he got there, it seemingly got stranger._

_Ahead of him, spanning the entire length of the room and extending all the way to the ceiling, was a massive red gate. It was a pretty dull-reddish colour, bordering almost on a rusty brown, with patterns adorning the sides of the gate. In the middle of the gate, right where a lock should have been located was a huge piece of paper; huge as far as pieces of paper went anyway; with the kanji for 'Seal' on it, he read. 'At least I think it says that,' he thought to himself, walking closer towards the massive gates. He'd never really gotten taught how to read, but could always just... do it, somehow. _

_He froze in his tracks though when the feeling of warm air was blasted into his entire body, and a deep, gruff voice sounded out from behind the bars of the gate. He absently wondered if perhaps that wasn't a cell in front of him, keeping something dangerous locked away, but due to the situation he was in, he couldn't care less at the moment. **"Ah, so my jailor has finally decided to pay me a visit, has he...?"**_

_Naruto's body screamed at him to run, to get the hell away from the bars of the gate, but his curiosity was keeping him rooted. Or was that fear. He didn't know, but he liked to think that it was the former preventing him from running away from whatever was lurking beyond those bars in the shadowy depths of the cell. "W-what do you mean, jailor?" he asked timidly, cursing himself for his squeaky voice. "Where are we, and who are you?" he let out a little more forcefully, patting himself on the back for that momentary shred of bravery. _

_The voice seemed to ignore him though and disregarded his questions, asking another one of his own. **"Why do you not run, boy? Is it courage that keeps you planted where you stand, the courage to stand up to me? Or perhaps it is just sheer stupidity. Curiosity is another likely possibility, although I suspect that it is none of the above,"** the voice finished softly, letting out another breath of air that ruffled Naruto's clothes and hair. **"My presence usually instils fear, so... does fear keep you rooted to that spot, fear of what you cannot see, and fear of what you might find if you decide to come too close. Or fear of what might happen if you decided to flee?"**_

_Naruto remained standing in his spot, listening intently to the voice speaking from within the shadows. Who did this person think he was, talking down to him like this, like he was somehow superior to him! It reminded him of the guards that patrolled around the section of Tsuki where he stayed. He balled his fists at his side and took a courageous step forward, at the same time throwing out his fist. "I'm not afraid of you or anything else, you hear me?! Now, where are we, and who are you?! Answer me damn it!"_

_The chamber was quiet for several more moments, nothing but the sound of his heavily beating heart filling his ears. After what felt like an eternity, the voice finally sounded out again, but it let out an amused chuckle, annoying Naruto to no end. _

_The Kyūbi looked out towards the boy from within the shadows of his cell and regarded him carefully. It seemed that he had been in a sort of stasis for the first few years of his jailor's life, having most probably slept away through the boy's first seven years. But looking into the memories of this boy, he hadn't been in Konoha where he thought he'd end up. They were somehow transported to the island of Tsuki no Kuni, and his jailor had been living off the streets for the totality of his life. It seemed that nobody truly had any idea what had happened to the boy, and by proxy, himself either. _

_Taking all that into account, as well as the seal that was in place and who had put it there to begin with, he resigned himself to the fact that he was not going to be freeing himself from this seal anytime soon, if ever. This particular seal was designed to help the boy wield his chakra, and his chakra was slowly mixing with the boy's and merging into one. He wasn't going to be able to break out of this seal without killing himself in the process, and when this boy died, so would he, so with that in mind, he made a decision – a decision that would ultimately affect the rest of his days. _

_He looked back down at the small boy standing defiantly in front of his cage and, despite the situation, the fox smirked to himself. This was going to be fun, he thought amusingly. He let out another large breath of warm air and laid himself down on top of his hands. **"To answer your questions boy, this place all around you, this... sewer of sorts, is the inner recesses of your mind, or more easily known as your mindscape."**_

_Naruto took a cursory glance around him and cringed in disgust. "So this... this is my mind? Why is it a sewer? And what am I doing inside my mind?! Am I dead?!" Naruto slowly started panicking, looking around frantically and clutching at parts of his body to reassure himself that he was still, in fact, alive, holding his palm over his chest to try and feel the reassuring beat of his heart. _

_The Kyūbi huffed annoyingly and let out another large breath of air, effectively getting the boy's attention once again. **"Be quiet boy, you are making my head hurt! Now, if I may continue, we are currently inside your mindscape; and no you are not dead; and lastly, I am under the impression that you could change this sewer setting if you so wished. Now, to answer your other question, I am..."** He paused there for a second, thinking carefully on the words he should use. He had to remind himself that he was only talking to a seven year old, so he had to muster up what little patience he possessed and spoke again, moving forward into the light so that the boy could see him in all his orange-furred and nine-tailed glory. **"... I am your conscience. Yes, that's it. Conscience."** He patted his back with one of his tails and watched as the boy slowly started to relax before his eyes widened at the sight of him. _

_They returned to their normal disposition after a while and he took on a thoughtful look before he nodded to himself. "Hm, that makes sense," he agreed easily with a nod of his head, watching as a massive sweat drop formed on the giant fox's head. Children were too innocent, he chuckled. "Sooo... what's a conscience? And are all Conscience's foxes?"_

_The almighty Kyūbi palmed his face, shaking his head exasperatedly as he ran his hand along his maw. **"Never mind the details behind it, just know that I am your conscience, and I am a giant fox. I can see, hear, feel, smell and taste everything that you can, unless you decide to purposefully shut me out, but never mind the details behind that."**_

_Naruto nodded his head at all this information while deciding to take a seat to listen to it all. His young mind couldn't comprehend most of what was being said, but his head was nodding along nonetheless. "Okay, I understand Conscience. So do you just sit here in this sewer all day? That doesn't sound like too much fun at all."_

**_"You have no idea,"_**_ the Kyūbi deadpanned, beginning to find the boy's name for him a tad bit annoying. **"But, and I stand under correction, as I said earlier, I surmise that you can change this sewer if you so wish. All you have to do is think of something else, and it should change accordingly."**_

_Naruto nodded his head and took on a thoughtful pose, sticking his tongue out absently and holding his hand beneath his chin. His eyes snapped open and he clicked his fingers in success. "I think I've got it." He took on a look of immense concentration and closed his eyes, trying as hard as he could to change up his mindscape. The Kyūbi watched in fascination as the floor within the room morphed into long green grass, and the walls and area all around them changed into a light yellow colour. The gates were still present, and the numerous doors still leading out towards the passages from earlier were still located all around the room, but where there used to be brick walls and a multitude of pipes running along all the walls, there was now just a light yellow wall. _

_Naruto opened his eyes and glanced around, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly and turning back towards the giant fox. "Sorry Conscience, but this was the best that I could do."_

_The Kyūbi didn't say anything at first, simply using this time to wriggle his fingers and paws into the grass below. **'Who would think that I would miss something as trivial as grass as much as this...'** He bared his fangs in what Naruto assumed to be a smile before the fox looked down at him again with a calm expression. **"This will do boy. And stop calling me conscience. It's grating on my last nerve," **he growled lowly._

_Naruto glared chidingly back up at the fox and crossed his arms over his chest like the child he was, huffing in annoyance. "Fine, but then stop calling me 'boy', and call me Naruto. I have a name to y'know!" Naruto's eyes glazed over for a second as he processed what he said before he looked back up at the fox with a pondering frown. "So what's your name then if it's not Conscience?"_

_The Kyūbi remained silent for a long while yet again, taking note of how patient the usually-fidgety boy was remaining. He let out another sigh before crossing its massive arms over one another and laying its head on its arms, closing his eyes at the same time. **"You can call me... Kurama, Naruto,"** the giant fox finally answered, allowing Naruto to nod his head before being forcefully ejected out of his mind. Kurama had had enough talking for the day. Now he needed to get back to what he enjoyed most when confined to the stomach of a human. Sleeping. _

_(Flashback End)_

That was a good day for Naruto. He found another friend in his 'conscience', and although he didn't really understand why there was a giant nine tailed fox stuck in his mind, he just shrugged it off like everything else he didn't really understand. He knew it wasn't his conscience, but he was there nevertheless, so he made sure to keep him company and talk to him whenever an opportunity presented itself. He supposed it could get pretty boring up inside his head. **_'You have no idea how boring it gets inside this empty abyss that is your mind,'_** the deep voice sounded out sarcastically, snickering in the recesses of Naruto's mind.

'Ah, so you've got a sense of humour now. I'll remember that.' His ears perked up though at the familiar sound of sand crunching beneath feet, prompting him to crack an eye lid and turn his head in the direction of the sound, only for him to close his eyes once again and continue to listen to the ocean once he spotted who it was.

The crunching of sand continued for a little longer before stopping a couple metres away from him. "I thought I might find you here," came the voice of his best friend Shūhei as he took up a spot against a tree beside his best friend. Shūhei was wearing a short sleeved beige coloured shirt with string tassels at the collar that was similar in appearance to his shirt from when he was younger, as well as a maroon sash about his waist. He wore brown trousers and brown ninja sandals, with two golden earrings in his left ear lobe as well as a black bandana around his neck.

Naruto gave a soft chuckle as he continued to take in his surroundings using all his senses sans sight. "I'd be a little worried if you didn't know where to find me after all these years," came the friendly reply as he and he his best friend sat in an amiable silence for the next several minutes.

There was a crunching of sand again as Shūhei readjusted his position and turned towards his friend. "You know why I'm here don't you," he asked with a sigh as he made to stand up. Not getting any response from his friend, he got down on his haunches and snapped his fingers in front of the blonde's face a couple of times. "Hey, wake up Naruto. The lunch break is almost over and we've got to get back to the Getsugakure **(Hidden Moon)** Academy, which is pretty far away. Hey, are you even listening to me!" he snapped loudly, watching as his best friend continued to blatantly disregard him. His face turned into a scowl before his lips turned upwards in a devious smirk. He lifted his foot above Naruto's body and planted it straight into his abdomen, getting a satisfying 'oof!' and a low growl from his best friend, prompting him to smirk victoriously.

Naruto looked up at his best friend in annoyance before his lips also upturned into a devious smirk. He quickly grabbed both of Shūhei's ankles and pulled them forward, sending his friend into the sand onto his backside. Naruto chuckled at his friend's expense and rolled away to avoid any backlashes from his brown haired companion. "Payback's a bitch Shūhei! How many times do I need to tell you that before you get it through that thick skull of yours?" he shot victoriously, jumping to his feet and throwing on his backpack.

Shūhei look defiantly up at his best friend, but for the life of him he just couldn't stay angry at the blonde, and his lips twitched into a smile before he started laughing as well. "Yeah, yeah, just help me up will ya."

Naruto leapt over to his friend and grabbed his friend's extended right hand, pulling him back to his feet as they both dusted themselves off. Naruto looked in the direction of the Academy and his face morphed into a challenging smirk. "How's about we have a little race," he began, glancing backwards to his friend, only to find him not there anymore. His head shot forward again and he grinned upon spotting his friend already racing off into the distance.

"What's taking so long Naruto?!" Shūhei shouted back rhetorically as he continued to sprint ahead to the Academy, his smirk glinting cockily in the afternoon sun. "At this rate, you'll never have a chance at beating me," he taunted cheekily, turning forward again and shooting off back towards the Academy at full speed.

Naruto grinned mischievously and took off after his friend. "Oh, we'll see about that," he murmured to himself, leaping from tree to tree as he dashed after his friend and brought his right hand up into the ram seal.

* * *

_**AN: So, that's the first chapter, it's a little bit different from other stories I've read so far, so I'm hoping it will catch. I really enjoyed writing this one, and I hope to be able to write more. A quick question, I want to see if you guys know who I based the looks of the OC, **_ **_Shūhei_** _**, off of. A big thumbs up and a cookie to those who can :D **_

_**Also, the scene with the King in the market square, anyone see where that was from ;)**_

_**With regards to the Japanese translations, for things like places, I will only add the translation once before removing them, but for things like jutsu, I don't know, it just feels right to have the english translation beside them, especially if it's for a jutsu that I create and add into the story. Maybe I'll add a few explanations for the jutsu to the bottom of the chapters, but we'll see.  
**_

_**Anyways, rambling over, exams starting soon, so chapters will be coming up soon after I'm finished with them. Till next time...**_


	2. Another Day at the Office

**_AN: Hey guys, so far not too many views or reviews, which undoubtedly makes me a little disappointed, but nevertheless, I've have finished up with the next chapter for your enjoyment, so please... enjoy. Now. Seriously though, let me know what you guys think of the story so far, I'd really like to see how the rest of you are finding it, and whether you'd like to see some things different so I can try and adjust my writing accordingly. I'm still a pretty novice writer, so bear with me :)_**

**_By the way, big thanks to my beta BigMakki for doing a great job on correcting any errors I made. He's the reason that you'll be able to read this chapter without having to worry about errors, so send him a cookie if you get the chance ;)_**

**_Anyways, I seem to be babbling, so I'll let you guys go and read the chapter already..._**

**_LAST EDIT: (26/07/2014) - A few formatting errors corrected, as well as grammar, punctuation... the lot :) Also, chapter size reduction as mentioned before.  
_**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 2: Another Day at the Office_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Outside of Getsugakure Academy, a few minutes later..._

* * *

"How did you beat me?!" exclaimed an out of breath Shūhei, slumping down with his hands on his knees as he turned his head up towards Naruto with narrowed eyes. "You didn't fucking cheat by any chance, did you?" he questioned dangerously, watching his friend's facial expressions carefully.

Naruto crossed his arms and turned away from his friend with a shit-eating grin etched across his face. "Pfft. **_Me_**, cheat? I would **_never_**..." he answered overdramatically, turning around with his hand on his chest and a facial expression that was so alien on his face that Shūhei almost cracked out laughing at the sheer stupidity of it. Naruto returned to his usual demeanour and thrusted his left hand into his pocket while curling his right hand into a fist and buffing his nails on his shirt smugly. "We're ninja, Shūhei. Everything goes in the world of ninja. We specialise in the art of deception, so there's no such thing as cheating in this shinobi world."

Shūhei studied his friend's behaviour for a couple seconds with narrowed eyes before they widened and he pointed accusingly at the blonde beside him. "You finally mastered that new jutsu, didn't you? The _Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Technique)**_? That's why you're looking so smug," he finished knowingly, watching as his best friend casually shrugged with another shit-eating grin on his face. Yeah. That was definitely the reason.

"That's a secret for me to know, and for you to... never find out," he answered cryptically while rubbing under his nose proudly, trying his best not to look abashed at being called out. Yeah. It was painfully obvious now to Shūhei that he had mastered his new jutsu. Naruto was too much of a sucker for jutsu to hide it.

Shūhei shrugged casually and turned back to the Academy upon hearing the ringing of the bell. "Come on, time to go to class," he said, turning to the Academy and heading off to the front door with his blonde brother in all but blood hot on his heels.

Naruto looked wistfully towards the building of the Academy, sighing softly as they entered through the front doors. 'Five more months, and then we're finally finished with the Academy. This really couldn't have come any sooner...'

He had been waiting for this moment for the last two years now when he had passed the initial test to decide whether a person could become a ninja or not. The Getsugakure Ninja Academy operated a lot differently when compared to Academy's from other hidden villages. Because Tsuki no Kuni did not have its own hidden village, rather opting for a military comprised of non-shinobi, the system to become a ninja was slightly altered.

The Getsugakure Ninja Academy was, at first, a two year endeavour where all attendants would receive education equivalent to that of a four year course at any other Ninja Academy, such as Konoha's Ninja Academy for example. After learning four years worth of information in only two years, the attendants would take their graduation exam early to determine whether they could in fact become ninja; and if they could not pass the test, they would either end their career then and there, or be transferred to the island's military forces.

Naruto was still thankful that during his ninjutsu test he had only been asked to perform the _Kawarimi no Jutsu **(Substitution Technique)**_ and the _Henge no Jutsu **(Transformation Technique)**_ – he was still, to this day, unable to perform a regular _Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)**_. Why? He had absolutely no idea. But he couldn't do it, so the fact that he wasn't asked to do it in his exam was a Godsend.

But back to the Academy, after they graduated at the two year mark, they would continue training for two years within the Academy, amassing their skills and techniques, and then once they were finished at the end of the four year period, they would go straight into the Chūnin Exams. Due to the lack of shinobi in Tsuki no Kuni, they didn't have the luxury of being able to form teams with three genin and one jōnin; not enough that it would be beneficial to Getsugakure anyway. So they would send them straight into the Chūnin Exams for experience and depending on their results, would promote them.

Tsuki had an abundance of Chūnin – however much an abundance was in a land with no hidden village – nevertheless, that was the procedure, and after the graduates had completed three and a half years here, they would be split into their four man cells for the last six months so that they could get accustomed to their teammates. Only the two very best teams of the year would get sent to the Chūnin Exams with each team accompanied by one of the few jōnin on the island. The rest would become genin and work around the island to earn their ranks or would take the next Chūnin Exams.

There were only 14 people in his class, so the teacher had explained that one team would only have two members and would be given a third member by the host village upon arriving at the Chūnin Exams, if they were chosen. But the two man team would also leave a month earlier so that they could get to train with their third member and get comfortable as a team before the actual exams started. That two man team just happened to be comprised of himself and Shūhei, and they were beyond relieved that they were together in a team. They already worked so well together and knew the other like the back's of their hands.

Naruto blinked back into focus and stared ahead at the board, focusing back in on the instructor's words. It was so easy for him to just dose off slightly during class, but his ears were always open, so he never missed much. "... and each chakra nature is superior to one and inferior to another. You can see what I mean by looking at this diagram on the board. Now, we'll be starting you all off on your elemental manipulation for the last six months here, so I'll be calling you up one by one to the front of the class so that we can see what chakra natures you all have.

Each shinobi has only one elemental affinity, unless of course you have a kekkai genkai, then you will have two elemental affinities. Although each shinobi only has one chakra affinity, you can still train yourself in the other four elements; however, progress in elements that aren't your affinity will take much longer to learn and even longer to master. Let me just warn you in advance that it's highly unlikely that any of you will be able to master your elements by the end of your time here, but because our curriculum is of a higher standard, you will be started on them regardless."

She let the information sink in before grabbing a stack of small papers from her drawer and placing them on her desk. "You just take one of these pages and channel a bit of your chakra into, and then we'll be able to see your chakra natures. Now, first up, Yuki..."

Naruto tuned the instructor out once again and turned his head towards the window, where there was a perfect view of the glistening ocean, the rays of the sun sparkling off of the sea's surface. 'I wonder what my chakra nature will be?' he thought absentmindedly, twirling his pen in between his fingers as he stared blankly towards the front of the class. The water looked so inviting at the moment. It was quite weird how that always seemed to be the case when he was sitting in class.

"...-ruto... Naruto... Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto shook his head quickly and refocused his eyes, ignoring the snickering from the rest of the class as he got up and trudged towards the front of the class.

"Sorry sensei, I must've just dosed off there for a second y'know," Naruto said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with his hand embarrassedly. He picked up a piece of chakra paper and held it between his thumb and index finger before looking up at his sensei curiously. "So I just channel some chakra into this page?" His sensei nodded her head and he focused his eyes back onto the piece of paper, channelling as small an amount of chakra as he could manage. He watched on with interest as the page split in two, and he turned his head back towards his sensei with furrowed brows.

"Hm. That's very interesting. A wind natured chakra affinity. Not impossible for someone from Tsuki no Kuni, just very, **_very_** rare. There are currently no other wind users on this island, but we have plenty of scrolls that you can make use of to practice with, so don't worry. Now, Shūhei, please come forward. It's your turn," his sensei said, handing Naruto a scroll on the basics of Fūton **(Wind Release)** before he went back to his seat.

Naruto slowly walked back to his desk as he pondered on his newly found out element and opened the scroll he had been given, skimming through the information from within. 'Fūton 'ey? The so-called battle element; most common to shinobi from Sunagakure **(Hidden Sand)**; superior to Raiton **(Lightning Release)**; inferior to Katon **(Fire Release)**. Combines brute force and precision to deal cutting and slashing damage. Can be used to augment blades and weapons by sharpening them with wind chakra... I think I'm gonna enjoy this chakra nature. It's perfect for my weapons of choice.' He grinned happily and turned back to the front of the class to see what Shūhei's element would be, watching in interest as his chakra paper became damp with water.

"... a water natured chakra affinity. Another very useful nature, also not very uncommon among Getsugakure shinobi. Here is a scroll for you. You may take your seat again. Next up is..." Naruto tuned her out and waited for his friend to return to the seat next to him, seeing the massive smile that his friend was sporting. Suiton **(Water Release)** was a very versatile chakra nature if he had heard his sensei's earlier preaching's correctly, something that would be a great addition to Shūhei's arsenal.

He rolled up his scroll and grinned happily in his seat. He couldn't wait for the Chūnin Exams. He had never felt more ready in his life. He was sure that he and Shūhei would be able to make it in. He was top student with Shūhei right behind him. They were something of prodigy's according to many of the instructors at the Academy. Apparently, Getsugakure hadn't seen students as talented and skilful as himself and Shūhei in the history of Tsuki. "We're gonna win this thing this year, Shūhei," Naruto said abruptly, still staring out the window towards the ocean.

"Hm?" questioned Shūhei, looking oddly towards his best friend's sombre look. Shūhei waited several more seconds before Naruto turned towards him and held out his fist.

"We're gonna win the Chūnin Exams this year Shūhei," he repeated seriously, keeping his fist extended as he stared into the teal-green's of his best friend. "We're gonna put this island back on the map. Getsugakure has been regarded as a fake hidden village for too long. We're gonna win this, and that's a promise. I never go back on my word."

Shūhei stared intently into his best friend's cerulean-blue's and smiled warmly at his brother-in-arms, extending his arm so they met in a fist bump. "I'll hold you to it, Naruto."

Naruto nodded his head appreciatively towards his good friend before he turned back towards the window and stared out at the horizon in the distance. 'I wonder how strong the people out there are. I've never been off of this island, so I can only imagine how strong the people out there can be. But I'll be stronger. Shūhei and I will both be stronger. I swear it on my nindo.'

* * *

_Meanwhile, in Konohagakure no Sato **(Village Hidden in the Leaves)**..._

* * *

It was a typically warm afternoon in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sun was in the middle of the sky, casting its rays across the entire expanse of land that was Konoha. The clouds were going along their merry way, floating aimlessly in the sky with the odd bird flying in and out view as it swerved through the fluffy white phenomena.

The four heads of the previous Hokage were all watching over the village that they had all held so dear during their time as leader, watching over the many villagers and shinobi as they went about their daily lives, manning their stalls and carts in the market square, doing business as usual.

It was yet another peaceful day in the village, a peace that had lasted for the past 12 years since the fateful day of the Kyūbi attack. The village was finally fully recovered, with buildings being fully rebuilt and the mental state of all the villagers finally able to rest easy as the threat of total annihilation was finally receding to the backs of their minds.

This was not the case however for the current leader of the village, Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. He exhaled softly and blew out a wisp of smoke, closing his eyes softly as he brought his signature pipe back to his lips and chewed absentmindedly on the end. His thoughts were currently drifting towards all of his failures in his life as of late, trailing back to when one of his prized pupils turned rogue and left the village after performing illegal experiments. It wasn't the fact that his student had turned rogue that was the failure; rather, it was the fact that he couldn't muster the strength to end his student's life when he had the chance to prevent him from continuing his experiments.

He had always had that sinking suspicion that Orochimaru was up to no good, but his love for his student, coupled with his insistence that he was not performing these heinous acts, was what ultimately led to Orochimaru's continuation of them. Hiruzen had turned a blind eye to all of Orochimaru's despicable activities, wanting more than anything for them to be nothing more than simple lies. His momentary weakness had allowed Orochimaru to run free, and who knew what he was getting up to in his spare time now.

Then his thoughts drifted a little bit further into the future, remembering the tragedy that took place 12 years ago. His village had fallen low, lower than he had ever seen it, but like all previous times, the village had endured, and their will of fire had persevered and allowed them to bounce back better than ever. Konohagakure no Sato was still the strongest village in the Elemental Nations, and that was fact. It was not without its losses though, which lead to his current thoughts: the death of his successor-turned-predecessor – the death of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

That was perhaps one of his biggest failures in his eyes. Minato was a long time friend as well as a splendid shinobi – a once in a lifetime genius, as they called him. Sarutobi always regretted not taking Minato's place as martyr of the village that night. Minato and his beloved wife were both killed as they battled it out to rid the village of the Kyūbi, which they did. Minato's plan was to seal the demon into his new born child, his only son, Naruto. However, once the Kyūbi had been sealed, the boy was never found, and all traces of the Kyūbi, along with baby Naruto, were lost. Both the boy's parents had died so that he could live on, and in a tragic anti climax, he was most likely killed along with them.

His heart wept for that family; a family of shinobi who sacrificed everything to protect the will of fire. To protect everyone within the Leaf Village. Sarutobi had been ready to die that day, ready to join his wife Biwako in the afterlife, who had passed on during the chaos of it all. But he was denied that privilege. And he was the only person qualified at the moment to run the village, and with no immediate successors at the moment, he was denied the chance to be reunited with his beloved wife. He was oh-so ready to join his wife in the afterlife, but for the sake of the village, he had to keep on going. He had to hold onto what little life was left in this old body of his to find a suitable successor for Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

He clenched his fist and smashed it down on the top of his desk, his body racking with silent sobs as he let himself show a miniscule amount of weakness, letting himself show his true age in this time when he was completely alone, his office completely devoid of any Anbu. 'I miss you Biwako. More than you could imagine...'

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to be greeted with the sight of his deceased wife, standing behind him in all her beauty with an ethereal glow about her. She just stood there with a comforting look in her eyes, squeezing comfortingly on his shoulder as she mouthed the words 'I love you' to her husband. He placed his free hand over her one resting on his shoulder, only for it to pass right through and for her image to slowly fade out of view.

He sat in silence for a moment longer, holding his hand over that same spot for a few more seconds before steeling himself back to his Hokage mask, mustering up the strength to keep on going and to remain strong, for the villagers' sake's. He was doing this for all the occupants of the village, for the sacrifice that Minato, his wife and his child had made for the village, as well as his wife's sacrifice. Then and only then, could he reunite with Biwako, he silently reminded himself. He could continue to push through for a little longer before he would finally be allowed to join her. He turned to his door when a knock sounded out and cleared his throat, dusting himself clean of the non-existent dirt out of habit before readjusting himself in his chair and lacing his fingers together in front of him. "Enter."

The door opened and closed and in walked the very familiar face of a man who he was very fond of. "Ah, Iruka-kun. What can I do for you this fine afternoon?" Iruka was an average built man of average height, with long brown hair tied up into a pony tail. He wore the standard Konoha uniform and had his hitai-ate tied firmly around his forehead. He was an instructor at the Konohagakure **(Hidden Leaf)** Ninja Academy, as well as a fine Chūnin of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Iruka stopped in front of the Hokage's desk and pulled out the file located underneath his arm, placing it on the desk. "Good afternoon, Hokage-sama. I just came by to drop off the list of this year's Academy graduates and team selections for you to revise and review. They're a promising crop of students, and I believe they will go forward to do great things for the village one day," Iruka spoke proudly, smiling confidently in his words. Teaching was something he had a passion for and something he truly enjoyed. This was his way of protecting the village, training next year's generation to be able to protect the village with their own hands. This was his will of fire.

Sarutobi smiled warmly at Iruka and listened intently to the heart-felt pride in his words. Iruka was like this every year, taking great pride in his class of students. He was a gentle soul despite his rough and tragic childhood, and the Sandaime couldn't be more proud of the man he'd become. "Thank you Iruka-kun. As always, I trust your judgement and faith in your students. I have no doubt that they will become the future leaders of this village."

He reached down and opened up the file, glancing over the names and teams that were set up before one specific team caught his name. "Team 7; Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Sai; Team Leader Hatake Kakashi," he murmured, taking on a nostalgic and almost regretful look that did not go unnoticed by Iruka, but the Chūnin wisely didn't pry. 'This was the team that young Naruto would've been a part of. I can still remember the prideful look on Kakashi-kun's face when he was told that he'd be the teacher for his sensei's son. He was truly looking forward to becoming his mentor...'

He smiled fondly at the memory and looked back up to see Iruka looking down at him with a concern-filled gaze. "Don't worry about me Iruka-kun, just reminiscing, is all." He cleared his throat and put the file back onto his desk, lacing his fingers and looking up to the Chūnin once more. "Now, if that is all..." he trailed off, watching as Iruka nodded and left the office, leaving Sarutobi to his thoughts once more.

'Best get started on organising this year's Chūnin Exams. We are hosting after all, and there's going to be a lot of competition and invites to send out. Kumogakure **(Hidden Cloud)** is back on good terms with us after the successful peace treaty years ago, so we can count for their participation. There will be teams from Kusagakure **(Hidden Grass)**, Sunagakure **(Hidden Sand)**, Kirigakure **(Hidden Mist)**, Amegakure **(Hidden Rain)**, Takigakure **(Hidden Waterfall)**, a new village Otogakure **(Hidden Sound)** and last but not least, Getsugakure. This is going to be one of the biggest Chūnin Exams in the history of this prestigious event. It's going to be a spectacle like none other... I'm sure of it.'

* * *

_Back in Tsuki no Kuni, 2 months later..._

* * *

_THUD THUD THUD_

_THUD THUD THUD_

_THUD THUD THUD_

"Woah Naruto-niisan, that's three bulls eye's in a row! In **_each_** target!" exclaimed a nine year old Hikaru; the son of prince Michiru and grandson of King Kakeru; as he lowered his binoculars and looked ahead at the archery targets with stars in his eyes. He was a young bespectacled boy with short black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a white outfit with blue, triangular trimming held closed by a simple sash. He also had a pair of brown boots and pants on with a quiver of suction-cup tipped arrows strapped to his back. "And that last target is over 45 metres away! Do you think I can start using real arrows too Naruto-niisan?" he pleaded, the pupils of his eyes dilating to astronomical proportions as he performed the dubbed, 'puppy-dog-pout'.

Naruto lowered his recurve bow and glanced down at the small boy to his side, watching as he stood there with his hands placed together in a pleading manner. Naruto smiled down at the nine year old and ruffled his hair, getting a small blush of embarrassment out of the little prince-to-be.

"Of course," Naruto started, kneeling down in front of the boy and putting his hands on his shoulders. "But only once you get a little older, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself or to try something you're not ready for." Naruto stood up again and gestured to the smaller target that was a little closer than his ones. "Now, if you can hit that target's bull's eye three times like I did, then I'll show you how far I've come with my elemental manipulation training."

"Stop using your elemental training to motivate poor Hikaru," muttered Shūhei from the sidelines as he hung upside down from a tree in the garden they were all currently in, practicing his tree walking. He'd just about mastered it and was giving it one final go about to make sure he could stay there for the intended time. "Why don't you help him with his Kyūjutsu **(Art of Archery)** for a change?"

Naruto looked to his left and up into the tree and gave his best friend a chiding look. "But he likes to see our ninja training, you know that," he responded, strapping his bow back onto his back. "And he's already about as good with a bow and arrow as I am, if not better. The only thing that's holding him back is his age. Don't forget who introduced me to using a bow and arrow in the first place." Hikaru blushed deeply under the praise and trained his gaze downwards, watching as a couple of ants dragged a crumb of food with them.

Shūhei dropped down from the tree by cutting off the chakra to the soles of his feet and flipped around so that he landed on right side up. He patted himself down and made his way towards Naruto and Hikaru, stopping by the small boy and ruffling his hair as well. "Nevertheless, I want to see how far you've come as well. I have to manipulate the water in a bucket into a whirlpool by only using my chakra for 30 minutes, and so far I've only managed about 19. I feel like I'm going backwards, it's so frustrating. So hopefully watching you crash and burn and seeing your frustration will help ease mine," he grinned happily, perfectly content with using his best friend's plights to improve his own mood.

"Well then Hikaru, now you've got to hit all three bulls eye's for you, and for Shūhei, so no pressure," Naruto said off-handedly, leaning back against the tree and dropping down to his rear, making himself comfortable for the show.

Hikaru gulped audibly and turned back towards the target in front of him, a visible bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face as the target seemed to zoom out and move further and further away from him. He reached for the bow on his back and pulled out one of his suction-cupped arrows, readying it for the first shot. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply; going through the tips that Naruto-niisan had instructed him to go through when he was feeling slightly nervous.

'Come on Hikaru, you can do this!' he silently berated himself, taking another deep breath. He faced down his target, loaded the arrow and pulled the string semi-taut, raising the bow to shoulder height and taking aim. He pulled the string back fully until his hand was resting under his jaw bone and the string was brushing his face, and with one more intake of breath, he let the arrow fly, taking pride in himself when the familiar sound of his arrow making contact with the target sounded out with a 'thud'. Looking a little closer, he noticed with satisfaction that it was a bull's eye, and couldn't help grinning smugly despite himself.

But he wasn't done yet, and repeated the previous process with grace and fluidity, hitting the bull's eye dead on with his next two shots as well. Being an archer, there was nothing more satisfying than hearing the sound of your arrow hitting its mark, and it was a sound that he really loved to hear. Coming back down to reality, he turned his body back around and smirked at the form of his brotherly figure sitting against the tree with his eyes widening a fraction of an amount, before he resumed his previous stature and grabbed a leaf off of the ground.

"It would seem that you have followed through with your half of the bet. So let me follow through with mine." He had been practising every waking moment that he could on the first step of his elemental manipulation for two months now, and he was keen to see how far he had come as well. So he placed the leaf in his left hand and covered it with his right before taking on a look of immense concentration and willing his wind natured chakra to cut the leaf.

'Make my chakra as sharp and thin as possible and cut it with my chakra from both sides. Sharply and finely, sharply and finely...' He repeated this mantra in his head and then opened his eyes, opening the palms of his hand and grinning ecstatically at the outcome. Inside his hand was a fully cut-down-the-middle green leaf, both halves resting in a different hand.

He jumped to his feet and shouted out excitedly, Shūhei standing beside the tree with a baffled expression on his face and Hikaru with a confused one. The nine year old wasn't really sure what had happened, but Naruto had put a leaf in his hand, then covered it, and then when he opened it again the leaf was cut in two. He just ripped the leaf into two pieces... what was so special about that?

Naruto slid to a stop in front of Shūhei and grabbed both his shoulders, shaking him as he spoke enthusiastically. "Do you know what this means? This means that now..." he started loudly, giving Shūhei an extra hard shake. "... I can start learning Fūton jutsus! If I want to really master my wind nature, I still need to find a waterfall and cut it in half with my chakra, but until I do, I'll just have to settle with this. The second part's really only when you want to start making your own jutsu, but I guess I'll have to wait for you to master your Suiton jutsu to make a waterfall for me."

Shūhei and Hikaru just blinked, then blinked again, and blinked one more time before Shūhei shook his head free from the confusion and pat his friend on the shoulder. "Well done you S.O.B, as soon as my first step for water manipulation is done, consider yourself getting a waterfall," he replied cockily, turning to Hikaru and Naruto and then gesturing towards the castle. "Come on guys, let's get back inside. It's getting late, and supper should be done about now."

Naruto and Hikaru nodded, both of them quickly fetching their arrows that were still sticking out of the targets and depositing them back into their quivers before strapping on their bows and heading towards the castle. 'Three more months...' Naruto reminded himself, thinking to the end of their Academy days. '... we're almost there.'

* * *

_Naruto's room, later that night..._

* * *

Naruto hobbled back into his room with only a towel wrapped tightly around his waist, impeding his movements greatly. He had just finished with a much needed steaming shower, so he threw on his pyjamas which consisted of light blue shorts that came up to above his knees and a light grey vest, which showed a small little silver key he had attached to a chain around his neck.

He chucked his wet towel into one of the corner's of his room, a corner that had been self proclaimed as the 'dirty corner', and took a quick glance around his room. His bedroom was fairly small to put it simply. When he and Shūhei had first arrived at the castle, they had offered to give them much bigger rooms, as well as offering to allow them to share a room. But never having had his own room before, he opted for a small one that he could have all to himself, something which had Shūhei wanted as well.

He had a queen sized double bed that was pushed into the back corner of his room with a balcony on the opposite side of the room with a glass sliding door, giving him a great view of the rest of the island and the ocean beyond that. All he had wanted from the start was a small single bed, but the king had insisted on the double, not giving Naruto much of a choice. He wasn't really complaining, but after being given a home, a family, food to eat; everything he could've ever dreamed for while living on the streets, he didn't want to impose. A single bed would've been more than enough for him.

Up against the wall, perpendicular to the sliding door was his desk and work bench. His desk was mainly used for all his schoolwork, but as the schoolwork got less important and the Academy began focusing more on teaching student's taijutsu styles as well as ninjutsu and basic fuuinjutsu, it was now more scrolls than anything else.

His work bench was where he would keep all of his shinobi gear, which consisted of his recurve bow, his quiver which was filled all the way with 50 arrows, his kunai and shuriken pouch that were both filled to the brim, and any and all spare arrows he owned shoved neatly in a drawer of the bench.

He had another pouch that was filled with other supplementary equipment such as smoke bombs, food pills, a nice stack of explosive notes and a couple of ready-made storage scrolls. Being an archer though, if it ever came up that he would be put in a close combat situation, he had his favourite weapons – his dual trench knives. They had been given to him as a present by Captain Korega on his tenth birthday as a graduation present for completing the beginning stages of becoming a shinobi.

He liked the idea of them though, because being an archer would give people the impression that he was a weak close range fighter, where in actual fact, he was far from it. He was more of a close range fighter to begin with, and the bow was just something he had taken a liking to in order to circumvent his lack of long range offensive techniques.

Something he'd been dying to try out with his trench knives though was to channel his wind natured chakra through them to increase their destructive force and cutting power like the Fūton scroll had said. Although, it said it was fairly difficult and would probably take him a while to accomplish, but that didn't deter him. He was determined to become the best, so he couldn't let something small like that get him down.

Besides the very decorative work bench with all of his ninja 'goodies', his room was pretty plain and bland, with the only real decorative work in his room being the framed map of the elemental nations that took up most of his back wall behind his bed, and the wall opposite his desk and workbench that was filled with several framed pictures of him and Shūhei. Among those were other pictures of him and the rest of the king's family. He wasn't sure what to call the relationship between himself, Shūhei and the king's family. He wasn't sure if he could call them an actual family, with Michiru being his uncle, Hikaru his little brother and Kakeru his grandfather. Whether he could call them those things or not, they were the closest thing he had to a family, and he liked things the way they were, so he just let them be.

He switched off his bedroom's main light before settling down on his own bed and switching on his side lamp. He sat there in a comfortable silence before reaching down the side of his bed and slipping his hands in between the mattress and the bed's platform, pulling out a thin metal box that was worn with time. There was nothing special about the box itself, being plain gun-metal in colour with a multitude of scratches and small dents riddling the surface. It was what was inside the box that was so special. Something that nobody else besides him knew about.

He reached inside the collar of his vest and pulled out the small silver key, bringing the chain up and over his head before unlocking the small box. He carefully lifted the lid and gazed at the objects within longingly, carefully pulling out each one and laying them on his bed in front of him. The first object was a book. A khaki coloured book with a plain white front cover and the title: 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja', written by Jiraiya. This was a book that he'd read hundreds upon hundreds of times from the first moments that he knew he was able to read. A story about a shinobi named Naruto who never gives up and vows to break the 'curse' of hatred. On the inside of the cover was a small note that he would read countless times, committing the words to memory in case one day the book ever happened to disappear:

_'To Naruto, our favourite little Uzumaki. Love Mom and Dad.'_

He traced his fingers over the words a couple of times before closing the book carefully and placing it back down on his bed. He grabbed the next item which was a photo of his mother; or so he presumed. She had long and beautiful fiery-red hair, with strands that framed both sides of her face and a black clip that parted her hair to the left. She had violet coloured eyes and she was wearing a high collared, sleeveless blouse under a long, loose-fitting dress. He could only describe her as incredibly beautiful.

The top left corner of the picture was torn, so all that could be seen was his pregnant mother, holding her hands around the front of her large belly with another pair of arms wrapped over hers. There was the figure of a man standing behind her; his father he guessed; but his face and half his torso was torn off, with only a white coat with flames framing the bottom of it sticking out. They were standing together in a forest full of sakura trees, and his mother looked so happy, a light blush tinting her cheeks. He let a solitary tear fall from his eyes, absently tracing his fingers along the photo, one of the few things that could connect Naruto to his parents.

He placed the picture down next to his book softly, reaching into the metal box for the second to last item. He picked it up carefully and held it out in front of him. It was a kunai. But it wasn't any ordinary kind of kunai. It was of a design that he'd never seen before and would constantly contemplate on. It had three prongs for the blade, with a yellow handle and some kind of sealing formula trailing along said handle. It also weighed a lot more than your average kunai. It was an oddity, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was for. Maybe another gift for him from his father or mother he ventured.

He set it down and reached into the box for the last item, carefully pulling it out and holding it in his right hand. It was a pellet drum. A pellet drum that he assumed was the first toy that would've been given to him by his parents had they been here with him. He twirled it in between his fingers several times, listening to the beat of the drums, letting it calm him down. He didn't know why, but something about the drum's noise would always immediately calm him, almost putting him in a state of total peace. All sounds around him faded out, with only the reassuring beating of the pellet drum filling his ears.

He sighed contentedly, staring out of his sliding door at the ocean, the moon's white rays lighting up the ocean's surface. 'The moon looks beautiful out tonight,' he mused thoughtfully, absently twirling the pellet drum between his fingers and feeling Kurama nod his head in agreement.

He stayed like that for another hour at least before finally packing everything back into the small metal box, locking it up with his key and placing it back under his bed. He turned off his side lamp and slumped into bed, snuggling up inside the blanket covering his body.

It wasn't long before he dosed off, the familiar sound of his soft snoring filling every corner of his room. Deep within his seal though, in the grassy meadow that was his mindscape, Kurama sat thoughtfully with his half lidded eyes trained ahead of him as he thought about his jailor. Truth be told, Kurama didn't even think of Naruto as his jailor anymore, categorising him as something more akin to a; dare he say it; a friend. His life had become infinitely better after Naruto had shown up in his mindscape that one night, and he was thankful that he did.

He wouldn't have wanted that night to go any differently now that he thought long and hard about it. He was content with his life at the moment, and his container was an interesting shinobi, so he would prove to provide some good entertainment along the way in the not-too-distant future. Hell, he might even join the kid and help him out. Naruto had done nothing but help him out for the past five years that they had been in each other's presence, fixing his mindscape, talking to him, allowing him to use his host's senses.

He couldn't help but feel a certain amount of regret for the boy. He would do this almost every night; pull out that box and go through all of his past belongings that he had somehow gotten a hold of when he was younger. Even Kurama didn't know where they came from, but he knew **_who_** they came from. He knew all too well who Naruto's parents were. He **_was_** the one that killed them after all. But despite that, he would sit atop his bed most nights and absently wonder where his parents were and why they'd just decided to leave him, if that was indeed the case, or if perhaps they had died. Kurama preferred to try and sleep through these moments, but it was difficult when your host's raw emotions were flooding your system, keeping you from doing anything other than be forced to feel his sadness with him. **_'I'll tell you one day Naruto. I'm just, not ready to be rejected yet after finally being accepted again in so many years...'_**

Kurama closed his eyes and allowed sleep to wash over him, his furry body rising and dropping in a steady rhythm. The rest of the night was filled with Kurama's feint snores that could only just be heard by Naruto in his mindscape, as well as Naruto's snoring that rang true through his bedroom. One more day over, one more day closer to finally becoming a fully fledged Getsugakure shinobi. Little did Naruto know that his entire life was soon going to become infinitely more complicated, and it all started with this year's Chūnin Exams...

* * *

**_Jutsu list:_**

* * *

_Shunshin no Jutsu_**_ (Body Flicker Technique) _**

The **Body Flicker Technique** is a high-speed movement technique, allowing a ninja to move short to long distances at an almost untraceable speed. To an observer, it appears as if the user has teleported. It is accomplished by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speeds.

_Kawarimi no Jutsu **(**__**Body Replacement Technique )**, Henge no Jutsu **(Transformation Technique)** and Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)**_

Everyone should know these, but I'll provide an explanation regardless. With the **Body Replacement Technique**, users replace their own body with some other object, generally with a block of wood, the moment an attack lands. This creates an optical illusion, making the enemy think the attack was successful. The **Clone Technique** is a ninjutsu that creates an intangible copy of one's own body, without any substance. Since the clone itself doesn't have the ability to attack, and thus can only be used to confuse the enemy. The **Transformation Technique** is typically used to change into people other than oneself, but one also has the ability to change into animals, plants, and even inanimate objects like weapons. This gives this technique an abundance of uses. This technique is considered to be among the more difficult E-ranked techniques, since it requires constant emission of chakra while mentally maintaining the form.

* * *

**_AN: Well, that's chapter 2, hope you guys enjoyed it. We see a little bit into Naruto's everyday life here, and a little bit of interaction with his 'brother' Hikaru. Also, Naruto's got a few mementos that he's somehow managed to hold onto for as long as he can remember..._**

_**Well, back to something important, I'm starting with exams this week at Univ, so chapters will most likely be scarce for about 2 weeks, but depending on how well I handle them, I might find time to write up another one during that time, so don't panic. With that, thanks for reading, till next time...**_


	3. S-S-D-D

**_AN: Hey guys! So here's the next chapter and instalment for Tsuki's Maverick, exams were taking place for me, and exams are still taking place for my beta, so unfortunately this chapter is not beta'd. But, rest assured, he will be finishing exams soon, and as soon as he does, I will be uploading the beta'd chapter for your viewing pleasure. _**

**_But, back to the chapter, I hope you enjoy it, and please read the AN at the bottom afterwards, important information that you guys should know. Enjoy..._**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 3: S.S.D.D_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Forests behind Tsuki no Kuni, one month later..._

* * *

_THUD_

_THUD_

_THUD_

_THUD_

"Argh! Why is this so difficult?!" exclaimed Naruto as he balled his fists in his hair and shouted out his frustrations. He was currently trying to channel his wind chakra into his kunai for the next part of his training; chakra flow; but he was having varied results. He knew that it was more difficult to successfully channel your chakra into a weapon like a kunai, because it was just made of normal metal. Which was his exact reason for deciding to use regular kunai first.

If he could get the chakra flow to work with his ordinary kunai, then channelling his wind chakra through his trench knives would be no problem. Korega-taichou had said that the trench knives were made of a special type of metal, a metal which absorbed chakra easier. If he could get the chakra flow correct with these ordinary kunai, then he would be able to imbue his wind natured chakra with any weapon. In theory of course.

He just didn't count on this exercise being as difficult as it was. It wasn't that he couldn't infuse his elemental chakra into the kunai. No, that part was pretty easy. It was the sharpening of the blade that was the difficult part. He needed to 'sharpen his chakra', as it said in the scroll he was given, and he was finding it eight different kinds of annoying.

But, he reminded himself, this was what he needed to accomplish to become stronger. This was something he needed to achieve to be able to help him win the Chūnin Exams. 'I will learn this technique. I swear it on my nindo!'

He heard some snickering from the tree in front of him, and upon squinting a little harder, found Shūhei sitting up against a branch towards the top. "You just swore something on your nindo, didn't you," he let out in between breaths of air, unable to control his laughter at the varying emotions that played over his blonde friend's face in the passing minute. Annoyance. Anger. Confusion. Determination. And then, awe and bafflement at being caught out so easily.

"It was written all over your face!" he laughed out again, clutching his stomach to relieve some of the pain caused by laughing so hard and answering his friend's silent question of 'how'. "You always make that face, and your right hand is subconsciously grabbing at that place above your heart." He laughed even harder as Naruto looked down to see that he had, in fact, subconsciously placed his hand there, watching as the blonde embarrassedly removed the appendage and looked away with crossed arms, huffing in annoyance.

"Just, s-shut up! It wasn't on purpose, y'know!" He heard his friend laugh even harder, going so far as to lose control of the chakra under his soles and fall to the ground, rolling around in amusement. He was about to ask what brought about the new bout of laughter, but his eyes widened and his cheeks tinted red in further embarrassment when he realised what he'd said. "Damn verbal tic, y'know," he muttered irritably, narrowing his eyes dangerously when he heard Kurama start snickering in his head as well.

He turned heel and walked back towards the tree he was throwing at earlier, pulling out a kunai and focusing his chakra into the blade like he'd been doing for the past month. The light blue of his chakra, almost transparent if he wasn't really looking for it, snaked its way along the metal of the weapon, covering the entire surface in the wind natured chakra of its wielder.

The chakra extended the tip somewhat, but the overall look that was coming from the chakra covered blade made it look more like it was cloaked in a layer of gelatine. It was almost pathetic. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, setting himself up and throwing the weapon into the tree.

_THUD_

It wedged itself in a little further than his previous times, and he grinned happily at the small amount of progress he was making. Progress was progress after all. Naruto glanced back at his brunette friend whose laughter was finally calming down and pulled out another kunai. "Laugh it up Shūhei; just make sure you're ready for when the Chūnin Exams begin. I can't have dead weight on my team, y'know," he said cheekily, a grin making its way across his face, exposing his pearly whites to the gleaming sun.

Shūhei, despite being jabbed at playfully by his friend, didn't rise to the comment, taking on a confident smirk instead. "Oh, don't you worry about me..." he trailed off slyly, jumping to his feet and dusting himself off, walking over to stand beside Naruto. "I'll be perfectly fine."

He turned around and walked back towards the castle, his hands in his pockets and a noticeable skip in his stride. He tilted his head to the side and stopped walking, taking his hands out of his pockets and folding them in front of himself. "Oh, and by the way, just holler when you need that waterfall." He turned his head forward again and trudged on back to the castle, leaving a grinning Naruto in his wake.

"So that sneaky son of a bitch managed to finally pull it off, huh," he whispered to himself, shaking his head in amusement. He turned back to the tree and pulled out another kunai, drawing his arm back for another throw. "Took the idiot long enough. Best get refocused now that the distraction is gone."

_THUD_

_THUD_

_THUD_

"Damn, I still can't get it to pierce the tree very far." He had been throwing kunai for a month now, and the furthest he'd gotten the blade to pierce the tree was as far as halfway, where the blade extended outwards and then back inwards again. He walked up to the tree and slowly removed all of his kunai, repacking each one inside his pouch with a new goal in mind for the rest of the day.

He'd used the first four hours of the morning to practice his chakra flow, so now he needed to try and fix the problem he'd had since beginning with the Academy. He needed to find a substitute for the _Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)**_. If he wanted to be a good shinobi, he'd need to get the basics down pat first. He was covered with the other two basic jutsu. Those he could perform in his sleep, but he still hadn't found a solution to his clone problem.

With a destination in mind, Naruto brought his right hand up into the Ram seal and began to build his chakra, before he lowered it again and shook his head. "No, I need to try and master this jutsu too, so no hand seals. Just build my chakra, and..." He disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing atop the roof of the castle that he lived in, albeit a little slower than usual.

He looked out towards the sky and noted the sun's position at about just past halfway, so it was around 12 o'clock in the afternoon. He looked in the direction of the Academy and focused his chakra again, disappearing in a puff of smoke and reappearing a little ways further, repeating this process until he got to the Academy. "I'll work on adding the leaves into that again once I master it without hand seals and go a little bit faster with it. Maybe I can add my wind nature to it as well to give it a little extra something."

He trailed off and walked into the Academy, heading straight to his old class sensei to ask for her help. After his class had been split into their teams, they had been removed from the classrooms and would meet with their jōnin-sensei everyday instead, practising to work as team. Due to unfortunate circumstances and bad luck, there weren't enough jōnin to give to each team, so because he and Shūhei were the top two of the class; and by a land slide at that; it was decided that they wouldn't need a jōnin-sensei and could train by themselves. If they ever did need help they would just need to visit the Academy and find one of the instructors to help them out.

He passed by a few classrooms, each class holding a different age group, but no class holding more than 20 pupils. There really was an extremely small amount of shinobi on this island. He rounded on the classroom and knocked on the door, sliding it open as he peered his head inside. Sitting behind the desk in the front of the class he found the form of his sensei, a young bespectacled woman with brown hair tied into a pony tail. "Good afternoon Nami-sensei. Do you think you'd be able to help me out with something?"

The now named Nami looked up from her work towards her surprise visitor, smiling warmly upon spotting who it was. "Ah, good afternoon Naruto. What a pleasant surprise," she exclaimed as she gestured for Naruto to come in. "Come take a seat and I'll see what I can do for you."

Naruto took the offered seat and folded his arms on the desk, sending a cursory glance across the splayed out papers before looking back up into the onyx eyes of his sensei. "Well sensei, I wanted to have a mastery of all the basic Academy jutsu, but I've never been able to master the _Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)**_, and I was hoping that maybe you could help me by giving me some kind of advice for the _Bunshin no Jutsu **(Clone Technique)**_, or a variation for the clone technique. Something along those lines so that I can safely say I have mastered all the Academy jutsu."

His sensei regarded him with a curious look, putting her pen down and giving him a long hard stare. Naruto's absurdly large chakra reserves were of no secret to the Academy teachers, all having sensed it at some point or another. They had all managed to deduce that that was the reason for his continued failure in the last of the three basic Academy jutsu. And here he was trying to fix that problem, trying to better himself even further as a shinobi of this island. She continued to stare at him with a piercing gaze, silently enjoying him squirm uncomfortably in his seat.

She eventually gave him a fond smile and nodded her head. "I'm sure there's something around here that I can let you use. There are many clone techniques out there, some using different elements, while others requiring large amounts of chakra. Unfortunately, your element is wind if I remember correctly, and there are no cloning techniques that I know of that involve that element, so it would be unbeneficial for you to try and learn one of the other elemental clone techniques."

She let that first bit of information sink in before walking over to her personal cupboard in the back of the classroom and biting her finger, drawing a small amount of blood. "There is however, another clone technique which I think would be perfectly suited for you. It was given to us, amongst other things, a long time ago by Konohagakure no Sato as an act of good faith when establishing the small alliance between our two nations. All that's required for this cloning technique is large chakra reserves, which you've got in spades, so I think that if anyone would be able to use this technique to its full potential, it would be you."

She swiped her bloodied finger across the drawer in the cupboard, a small seal lighting up on the front before fading back out of view and popping the drawer open with a click. She flicked through several scrolls in the drawer before grunting in satisfaction and grabbing the required scroll, closing the drawer back up and sitting back down in her seat. She gave the scroll a good blow down, throwing all the lingering dust off the top of the scroll and placing it in front of Naruto.

He glanced down at the scroll and lifted it up into his hands, reading the kanji inscribed on the front. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique)**_..." He was about to open it before Nami-sensei got his attention again, tapping the desk with her fingers.

"Now, if that will be all Naruto, I have work to get back to," she stated tersely, staring at him intently in the eyes again.

Naruto slowly pocketed the scroll before looking back up at his sensei and grinning innocently. "But I thought you'd enjoy some company sensei. Are you sure you want me to leave? It's been a little over three months since you've been in the presence of your favourite pupil. Are you sure I can't stay and work here. What if I have questions?"

His sensei just shook her head and turned down to her work, continuing on where she left off before she was interrupted. "Sorry Naruto, but I really must get back to work, and that scroll is very user-friendly, so you shouldn't have any problems with it. If you do, try and find one of the jōnin-sensei. One of them might even know the technique. Now, thank you for the visit Naruto, but I must be getting back to work. Oh, and I forbid you from teaching that jutsu to anyone else if you manage to master it. That jutsu could lead to death if someone doesn't have big enough chakra reserves, so please be careful."

With that, she fully tuned herself back into her work, leaving Naruto to silently leave the classroom and head on his way back home. "Now I've got something else I can work on in between my chakra flow. I wonder what kind of clone a _Kage Bunshin **(Shadow Clone)**_ is?" he wondered absentmindedly, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he made his way back to the forests behind the castle to try out his newly acquired technique.

It didn't take long for him to reach the castle without using a shunshin, rather opting to let the wind ruffle his clothes as he zoomed on through the town and forest with as much speed as he could muster, jumping to and fro acrobatically. He enjoyed his times speeding through the air, with the wind blowing against his face and throwing the bangs of his hair into complete disarray. It was oddly exhilarating, and so who was he to deny himself that small pleasure of life.

XxX

He landed on the ground in the forest without a sound, not even crunching a stray leaf or breaking a small twig on the way down. He plopped down onto the grass and crossed his legs, pulling out the scroll and untying the string that was keeping it together, slowly unfurling the paper as he did so. It wasn't a very long scroll, he noted, but there was quite a bit regarding the technique itself, so he decided to read it carefully and commit the whole thing to memory.

**'!****WARNING! THIS IS A J****Ō****NIN-LEVEL TECHNIQUE, AND IF USED BY SOMEONE WHO****'****S CHAKRA RESERVES ARE NOT SUBSTANTIAL ENOUGH, USE OF THIS JUTSU COULD RESULT IN DEATH**

_This technique creates clones of the user, however these clones are corporeal instead of illusions like the basic _**Bunshin no Jutsu (Clone ****Technique****)**_. The user__'__s chakra is evenly distributed between each clone. The clones are capable of performing their own techniques, and can bleed, but will be dispelled if they take a hit with enough force behind it. _

_The most distinguishable trait of a Kage Bunshin is that the experience of the clone is returned back to the user once it dispels, and is therefore a very effective tool for spying or reconnaissance missions. Any chakra that is still left in a clone when it dispels will be returned to the user. Any damage done to the clone will not be transferred to the user._

_The hand seals are the clone seal, which is accomplished by crossing your right index and middle fingers over your left index and middle fingers in a cross seal._

_This technique was developed by the Nidaime Hokage, Tobirama Senju._

**Taj****ū**** Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multi Shadow Clone ****Technique****)** _is an A-Rank supplementary kinjutsu, which is just a larger version of the shadow clone jutsu, creating anywhere from one hundred clones to anything greater. It is considered a kinjutsu because each clone is given an equal portion of chakra from the user, potentially draining the user of all their chakra and killing them.__'_

'Woah...' Naruto breathed, reading over everything once more. A jutsu developed by the Nidaime Hokage, the famed Senju Tobirama, the greatest Suiton user to have ever existed. And he was going to learn a jutsu developed by this guy? A grin slowly etched its way onto his face, threatening to split his face in two from the sheer joy behind it.

**_'Woah is right,'_** muttered Kurama, looking up from his perch. **_'One of you is trouble enough, I cannot imagine having to deal with hundreds more.'_** Naruto ignored his inner-being's sarcastic remark with great difficulty in favour of getting back to the technique. He couldn't give Kurama the benefit of losing his temper. **_'Oh, but you manage to lose your temper every so often even without my assistance,'_** he snickered back, taking great pleasure in annoying his host. He was way too easy to rile up. Naruto gritted his teeth and cut off the mental link for now, needing a little peace and quiet.

He quickly jumped to his feet, placed the scroll carefully back into his pocket and put his hands into the required hand seal, crossing his right index and middle finger over his left index and middle finger. "Well, here goes nothing," he muttered, building up his chakra for his first attempt of the jutsu. He had all the time in the world to practise this jutsu, but he wanted to get it done as soon as possible so he could refocus on his chakra flow. Hopefully this jutsu wouldn't take too long to get a grip of.

* * *

_Forests in Tsuki no Kuni, 7 hours later..._

* * *

"Naruto! Naruto!" shouted Shūhei with his hands cupped around his mouth, jumping from tree to tree in search of his wayward brother. Naruto was supposed to have been home an hour ago, but he had yet to show up, and Michiru-ojisan and Kakeru-ojiisan had been getting worried, so they decided to send Shūhei out to look for him, leading to the current situation. 'What the fuck is he doing, and where the fuck is he doing it? I've been looking for him for about 45 minutes now!'

Shūhei gritted his teeth and cupped his hands around his mouth for another massive shout. "Narut-... what the fuck..." His eyes drifted towards the ground inside the next clearing to where he found his best friend lying on the ground, staring up at the stars that were creeping their way into the night sky. Now, there was nothing particularly off about that. What was strange though was the fact that there were... '28, 29, 30...' Yeah, 30 Naruto's splayed out all around the clearing, each one staring up at the starry night sky as if nothing was wrong about the current situation.

Hearing his name called, 'Naruto' turned to look at his brother and best friend Shūhei as he landed in the middle of the clearing, all 30 pairs of eyes locking with him. Shūhei promptly took a wary step back, suddenly finding the current situation a little scary if he had to be honest. "Ah, N-Naruto, what have you been doing? Michiru-ojisan and Kakeru-ojiisan were worried when you didn't come home."

He waited for a while before all the 'Naruto's' looked to the centre of their group towards a noticeably more scuffed-up Naruto who was grinning widely with pride with both of his hands locked behind his head. "I feel bad for worrying them, but I was out here practising a new jutsu, and I just got it down about 30 minutes ago. See..." he said happily, gesturing to all the clones around him.

Shūhei walked up to one of the Naruto clones and absentmindedly stuck his fingers into the nearest one's eyes. "I see you finally got the Bunshin no-... what the fuck? They're solid!"

Said clone grabbed his face and dropped to the ground on his knees, writhing around in pain. "Ah! Why would you do that?!" he deadpanned painfully, staring angrily towards Shūhei.

The clone looked like it was about ready to get up and start a fight with Shūhei, so before anything could escalate, Naruto dispelled the clone in a puff of smoke. After dispelling the clone, he unconsciously glanced his hand over his eyes, and looked towards Shūhei with a grimace. "Okay, never **_ever_** stick your fingers in my eyes again. That really hurt, and I mean, **_really_** hurt."

Shūhei looked confused for a second and looked back to where the clone was standing before it was dispelled. "But I didn't stick my fingers in your eyes. I stuck them in your clone's eyes, so what's the problem?"

Naruto placed his hands on his hips and looked towards Shūhei with a chiding finger and sarcastic scowl as he went into a semi-lecture mode. "But see here Shūhei, everything that my clones experience is transferred back to me when they dispel, so I did feel you stick your fingers in my eyes, and let me tell you, it wasn't a pleasant experience." He shivered involuntarily and saw his brunette friend looking at him oddly.

"So you're saying that if one of these clones had to read a book for say, schoolwork, once they're dispelled, everything they read would be transferred back to you?" he asked curiously, watching as Naruto nodded back in confirmation. He rolled his hand over a couple of times in a 'please continue' kind of way to see if he could get Naruto onto the same wave length that he was on, but no dice. Naruto was acting as dumb as ever. He almost snickered. "And..." he dragged out, "what if one of them had to learn, for instance, oh I don't know, a jutsu maybe..."

Naruto seemed to ponder the thought for several seconds before his eyes lit up and spoke excitedly. "I actually don't know, but if they could, and I made each one do it, I could learn jutsus or anything in no time at all as I dispel them and receive their experience! Just think of the possibilities for training," he said happily with stars in his eyes, now standing in front of Shūhei with less than a metre in between them.

Shūhei quickly turned his blonde haired friend away from him and pushed him in the direction of the castle. "Now come on, we need to go back to the castle. You can try all this out tomorrow."

Naruto looked back at Shūhei with pleading eyes, but seeing that he wasn't going to budge, slumped his shoulders and turned back to the clones with his hands in the cross hand sign, sending up the entire clearing into a cloud of smoke as he dispelled them. "Okay, let's go back then." he said tiredly, throwing an arm around Shūhei's shoulder and using him to support himself.

Shūhei felt a momentary pang of anger at being used like some kind of walking stick, but looking down at the tired form of his friend, he smiled warmly and threw his own arm around his blonde friend's shoulder. "Yeah, let's go home. You look like shit by the way," he said all too happily, smiling ahead as he saw the narrowing of Naruto's eyes.

"Thank you so much Shūhei for summing that up," he deadpanned sarcastically, turning his head away from his friend to look forward again. "Now just help me get home." Shūhei just nodded and decided to leave Naruto alone. For now at least. He looked like he had had a tough day of training, so he could ease up a little he figured. If only for a little bit.

* * *

_Back in the Tsuki no Kuni castle, later that night..._

* * *

Naruto strolled down the stairs to the second floor of the castle towards the dining hall, clad in his pyjamas after a well deserved shower. He had had a helluva day training, so a warm shower after getting home was just what the doctor ordered to soothe the muscles. He was on his way to have supper with the whole family as per the usual weekly time. If he could call them family. He still wasn't too sure on that front. But having supper as a family was something that they were extremely religious about, something they did once every week, and he kinda liked it. It was a nice constant in his life as a ninja in training.

He pushed through the large wooden doors leading into the dining room and took in the magnificent aromas that were instantly assaulting his nostrils. The very first thing that tickled his taste buds was the ramen. His all time favourite. Miso ramen. If he was ever stranded on an island with nothing but ramen to eat, Naruto would be in cloud nine, never mind that he would be stranded. He lived off the stuff, the food of the Gods, the stuff of legends. He took in a big whiff of the ramen and sighed out in blissful content.

'Ah, there's really nothing like a steaming bowl of ramen, and I haven't found anyone that can make it better than this castle's chef yet. I can't wait till the day that I do, because whoever can make better ramen than this guy will definitely be making some pretty out-of-this-world ramen!' he thought excitedly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

**_'I have stated this once before and I shall state it again; the reason that you are so short is because of the ungodly amount of ramen that you inhale. Yes, I did say inhale, don't think me mistaken gaki,'_** came the gruff voice of Kurama, lying down in his usual position within the recesses of Naruto's mind. He had tasted ramen through the senses of his host many, many, many, **_many_** times before, and at first he had really enjoyed the stuff. But the sheer amount of ramen his host consumed turned him off of the stuff in no time at all. Surely eating that much of the stuff was detrimental to his host's health, Kurama thought time and time again.

Naruto was lucky that he was an Uzumaki, as well as the fact that Kurama was sealed inside of him. Being an Uzumaki, he already had a much faster healing rate than a normal human, but with the Kyūbi sealed inside him, that healing rate was improved upon exponentially. He had seen it time and time again in his previous hosts, who all happened to be Uzumaki as well.

'Don't be hating the ramen Kurama, or I'll find a way to get some to you as well. And I'm not that short! I'm 1.5 metres tall! That's about average height for my age,' he thought threateningly. Naruto slowly walked towards the table and spotted the multitude of different foods that were splayed out all over the oak-polished surface. The rest of his family wasn't down yet, but they'd be here soon enough. Naruto always came down first to scope out the menu before everyone decided to tuck in. Also, he liked to 'nibble' on some of the food before everyone else got down there as well. **_'Ha! Nibble. That was a funny one gaki!'_**

Naruto flustered a little and momentarily took his eyes away from the food and the chef that was currently getting prepared to make the teppanyaki in front of his guests, opting to walk off to the side a little. 'Just s-shut up, y'know! I'm a growing boy, I need the food you damn fur ball! And besides, this food is way too good to not eat as much as you possibly can. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I hear those onigiri calling my name,' he thought hungrily, salivating at the mouth as he made his way to the desired platter of food and began 'nibbling' on a few pieces. Kurama just smirked in victory and decided to watch from inside. He would poke fun at his host later on.

Naruto had been nibbling for several minutes until someone finally decided to make their way down to the dinner table, dressed in semi-formal clothes. It seemed that Naruto was the only that had forgotten to dress up yet again. "Ah, Naruto-kun, I see you're all right. We were quite worried about you earlier," came the deep voice of King Kakeru, striding into the hall with the poise and grace of someone befitting his title. He was an elderly man with long, unkempt white hair that formed into a beard on his face, with the top part of his head balding. He was wearing his King's robes and looked to be in good spirits as usual. He always looked happy like that.

Naruto slowly turned around from the table, turning to look at where the king's voice had come from, his mouth filled to the brim with food. He turned around with a surprised expression, looking like he'd just been caught stealing from the 'sacred' cookie jar. He smiled sheepishly and took a massive gulp, swallowing everything and letting out a content sigh. "Ah, yeah, sorry to worry you about that Kakeru-ojiisan," he apologised, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "I guess I kinda lost track of time while I was out training."

Kakeru dismissed his apology with a small wave of his hand, smiling softly at the boy. "Not to worry. I trust your training has been going well in preparation for the upcoming Chūnin Exams?" Kakeru asked, taking a seat at the head of the table and making himself comfortable. Naruto followed suit, and decided to take a seat and hold off on the food until everyone else arrived. He decided that some consideration for everyone else was probably a good idea.

Getting back to the question, Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically and grinned widely, immediately getting taken up in the topic. "Of course! I've been training like crazy for the past three months now y'know, and I'm not stopping until we leave for the Chūnin Exams."

Kakeru chuckled softly and looked fondly towards the boy. His verbal tic always made its presence known when Naruto was either feeling very excited or flustered. It made him seem all the more innocent. He flashed back to the day when he had first seen the boy in that market square, running for his and his best friend's life. He had come a long way since then, and so had Tsuki no Kuni.

He focused his eyes back on the boy and laced his fingers together in front of him. "Don't ever lose that verbal tic of yours Naruto-kun. It's something that makes you unique, something that tells you apart from others. It's what makes you, you. Don't let anyone ever tell you any different."

Naruto's cheeks reddened and he nodded timidly, averting his gaze to the food spread out all across the table. "I won't Kakeru-ojiisan. I promise y'know." The king nodded back and turned his head to the door when it opened, Michiru, Hikaru and Shūhei all strolling in together and taking their seats. Naruto's mood did a complete 180 and he shouted out to the latecomers. "Hey Michiru-ojisan, Hikaru, Shūhei. It took you guys long enough. Now we can finally dig in!" He grabbed his chops sticks and broke them apart, muttering a quick 'Itadakimasu', and before anyone could question how, began digging into a bowl a ramen that somehow materialised in front of him.

Everyone watched in amazement as empty bowl after empty bowl was placed atop one another beside him, the pile steadily growing in the time span of only four and a half minutes. Everyone shook their heads free from their reverie, smiling in amusement and taking to their own food with gusto, enjoying the meals that were prepared for them this night. Every week the chefs managed to outdo themselves with the food they prepared, and tonight was no different.

Sometimes Naruto and Shūhei would feel bad about getting to eat like this, especially when they thought back to all the people who used to live on the streets like them. But after they had been taken in by the king, there had been an increase in the standard of living in the more rural areas, and they were now more built up than ever before. King Kakeru had transformed this island in no time at all from a state of poverty into its current state of tropical paradise. He was an incredible king, and he ruled this land with the utmost care, taking care of this place as he would his own child. Tsuki no Kuni was prospering, and they would be getting some good publicity soon. 'Two more months, and then we'll be kicking ass with the best of them. My fists are shaking in anticipation and excitement!'

**_'Easy there gaki, you don't even know if you and Shūhei are going to get picked yet,'_** voiced Kurama, enjoying the taste of the teppanyaki that Naruto was chewing on at the moment. It was grilled to perfection, as was expected of someone working for the king.

'Pfft, as if we wouldn't get picked. Shūhei and I are the top two students in class. There's absolutely no contest,' Naruto answered back, taking another helping of steaks right off the platter.

**_'Hmph. I suppose you make a fair point. Just don't get too ahead of yourself. You don't want to go into this thing half-cocked so to speak, so you should make sure to use this time wisely and get as strong as possible.'_**

Naruto nodded his head and began chewing on another piece. 'I know Kurama, I won't get reckless on you, don't worry. That's what Shūhei's for. He's more level headed than me, so he can keep me in line when the time comes. I hope.' He stopped chewing and took on a thoughtful look for a second, looking over to his long time friend. 'Now that I think about it, a spar with him is probably in order soon so that we can gauge each other's skills and see how we fight. That way we'll be able to think on the best ways to use each other's techniques and strengths.'

Kurama nodded his head in the affirmative, placing his head back down on the perch that consisted of his arms and closed his slitted eyes. **_'You know gaki, that is actually a very clever idea. You should pat yourself on the back for that one.'_**

Naruto just rolled his eyes and continued to tuck into the small steaks that were being prepared in front of him by one of the chefs. 'Don't underestimate me. I'm not as hopeless as you think I am. Some faith in your friendly-neighbourhood-blonde-haired maverick would be nice every once in a while,' he thought sarcastically, swallowing another small beef steak. "This steak is really amazing Chef-san. You guys really know how to cook 'em," he said absently with a grin on his face, said chef smiling happily to the young boy and giving him an appreciative nod.

Kurama huffed in his container's head and breathed out a heavy breath. **_'Alright gaki, I'll admit you are not as hopeless as you may seem, but do not let that get to your head. The last thing we need is for the fire that is your ego to get stoked any further.'_** Kurama shifted on his spot and readjusted his back legs, making himself more comfortable. **_'Now, if you will excuse me, I am going for a nap.'_**

Naruto felt Kurama forcefully pull himself out of their mental link, leaving Naruto alone with his mind once more. It felt weird when Kurama wasn't there. Almost like a part of him was missing when their mental link was severed. He grinned happily and went back to eating his food though. He was glad that no matter where he was or where he went, he would always have a friend with him. That was something quite comforting, he noted. Kurama was his friend, and he was there to stay. He would never be alone.

* * *

_The forests of Tsuki no Kuni, the next day..._

* * *

It was another beautiful morning in Tsuki, with the sun peeking its head over the horizon to give the earth the light it needed. It was still pretty early in the morning, with a thin layer of mist permeating the air on the island. There wasn't a breath of wind that morning, and the crispness of the cold morning air was incredibly refreshing. Naruto took in a deep breath of the fresh air, once again finding himself in the forest clearing he had taken to using for his chakra flow training. It was a rather large clearing, which was perfect for what he wanted to try out this morning, and hopefully for the rest of the day.

He made his way to the middle of the clearing and placed his fingers into his clone hand seal, building up a sizeable amount of chakra. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique)!**_" In a massive puff of smoke, the entire clearing was filled with Naruto after Naruto, each looking down to the centre at the original. The 50 Naruto's that littered the clearing all nodded their heads, already having received the mental command of what to do before being created. Each clone paired up and headed towards a tree, each pulling out a kunai and beginning the chakra flow training that they'd been doing for so long now.

The original remained standing in place in the middle of the clearing, not really sure of what to do now. Maybe he should just watch his clones for a bit. Or maybe he should be doing the exercise too. Kurama shook his head and put in his own two cents. **_'Go to the other clearing and start on one of the Fūton _**_**jutsu that was in that scroll given to you by your sensei. That would be the most efficient use of your time.'**_

Naruto pondered on that for a moment and nodded his head, finding it to be as good an idea as any. 'I suppose you're right. Okay, let's see,' he thought, jumping down to the clearing beside the previous one and pulling out the scroll his sensei gave him. 'The first jutsu is a C-rank offensive supplementary ninjutsu, short to mid-range, called _Fūton: Rep__ū__shou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_. Wind is compressed and creates a powerful gale of wind that is strong enough to easily knock over a human. Can also be used to increase the speed and destructive force of ranged weapons such as kunai and shuriken. Hm, sounds easy enough.'

He reread the scroll several times before pocketing it and facing the largest tree in the clearing. The only hand seal that he needed was a simple clapping of the hands together. 'That's perfect for a first jutsu. This should be super easy to learn.' He clapped his hands together and built up some chakra for the technique. "_Fūton: Repūshou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_!"

There was a barely noticeable change in the air currents, but other than that, nothing really happened. Naruto's shoulders didn't slump though. This was just another jutsu he would need to try and master before the Chūnin Exams started and he and Shūhei needed to leave. Just a little less than two months and they'd be on their way. He refocused on the tree in front of him and tried again, and again, and again. He would get this technique done before they had to leave, and maybe he'd be able to start learning one more just before they left. "Okay, again! _Fūton: Repūshou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_!"

XxX

"Huh, *pant*, *pant*, that was *pant*, exhausting *pant*. I think I'm *pant*, almost out of chakra," huffed an out of breath Naruto as he stumbled into the clearing that was filled with all of his clones. He had been practising the _Fūton: Repūshou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_ for the past who knew how long, and he couldn't really feel his arms any more. He was lucky to be standing, he had as an afterthought.

He fell down onto his backside and leaned up against a tree that wasn't being used by one of his clones, deciding to watch his clones go at it for a little while so he could catch his breath. He'd be back and swinging in no time, he just needed a little rest.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

He turned in the direction he heard the voice and cupped his hands around his mouth. "I'm over here Shūhei!" He didn't have to wait long for Shūhei to jump down into the clearing, walking up to the Naruto leaning against the tree, assuming him to be the real one.

"So, I see you're trying out the clone training thing we discussed yesterday. So, does it help? Are you any better at your chakra flow technique?" he asked curiously, genuinely interested in the results. He had just suggested this training method on a whim, not really thinking that it could actually be plausible. It was all good and well in theory, but he was a bit sceptical about the actual outcome of the method. If it was true and it did work, then why didn't everyone do it? Although he had heard Naruto say that you needed an absurdly large amount of chakra to use this jutsu for even a few clones, and he had made 50 here, so Naruto clearly had the chakra for the jutsu. Maybe that was why.

Naruto let out an exhausted breath and closed his eyes softly as he answered. "I'm not sure, I haven't dispelled them yet. I just got back here from training in my first Fūton jutsu."

Shūhei nodded his head and slapped his best friend's shoulder softly. "Well then, dispel these clones and let's see what we got," he let out excitedly, bouncing on his toes and pulling Naruto up with him. He urged Naruto forward and nodded his head at the clones. "You said that this training would've probably taken you all six months to get down if you wanted to have it ready before the Chūnin Exams, right? Well, let's see if you managed to learn it in three..."

Naruto nodded his head and put his hands in the clone seal. "Well, here goes nothing I guess." He dispelled all the clones, sending the entire clearing up in a cloud of smoke. He stood there for a while and waited for the cloud of smoke to dissipate. After several more seconds though, he felt like he just got a massive headache, and clutched at his head in momentary pain, dropping to one knee in exhaustion. "Ugh, that was weird. My head feels like it's going to explode." But as soon as it came, it was gone, and only the lingering exhaustion remained.

**_'Baka,'_** Kurama muttered exasperatedly, not at all surprised by the current situation. **_'Receiving the experience from so many copies will obviously take a mental toll on your mind, and the exhaustion experienced by each copy will be transferred as well. You have overdone it once again Naruto.'_** Kurama rolled his eyes from within Naruto's mind and chuckled lightly. **_'Ah gaki, will you never learn.'_**

Naruto got back up onto his legs and took a few deep breaths. 'Thanks for that **_thorough_** analysis Kurama,' he thought sarcastically, pulling out a kunai from within his pouch.

"Hey, Naruto, are you alright? You look a little pale," Shūhei worriedly spoke, holding an arm around Naruto's shoulder. He looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

Naruto just gripped a little tighter on the kunai and nodded his head. "I'm fine; I just got the collective exhaustion from all the clones." He lined up at the tree and drew his arm back. 'Now, let's see if all this exhaustion was worth it. Sharpen my chakra, that's what I gotta do. Sharpen my chakra...' He let his wind natured chakra flow into the kunai, and was exhaustedly unaware of its current disposition. It was currently covered in the light blue, almost white, colour of Naruto's wind chakra, the chakra extending the blade and sharpening it indefinitely with unnoticeable ease, not looking anything like the jelly-covered form it was taking before. But not even knowing what he was doing, he let fly with the kunai.

_BOOM_

His eyes widened to the size of saucers as he watched his ordinary kunai go flying right through a two meter thick tree and fly out the other side, digging itself into the trunk of another tree right up to the hilt. "How was that S-Shūhei..." he breathed, his eye lids closing and his body going limp as he fell to the floor unconscious. Or, he would have, but Shūhei had just managed to catch Naruto on his back and picked him up in a piggy back.

Shūhei just shook his head in disbelief and let out a small chuckle. "That. Was. Incredible. You just keep getting stronger Naruto, and you never give up. There's no telling how strong you'll get, and I'll be there with you every step of the way. That's what best friends are for, right?" He didn't receive an answer, but he didn't need one. He knew what it was anyways. He trodded back to the castle with an unconscious Naruto on his back, having great difficulty in carrying the older and heavier boy. 'What a drag...' he muttered, not knowing at all the significance of those words. 'Best get back home.'

* * *

_Elsewhere, in the middle of Konohagakure no Sato..._

* * *

Lying down on the grass, staring up lazily at the slow moving forms of the white clouds in the sky was one Nara Shikamaru. He was just enjoying another average day off from being a ninja. His team sensei Sarutobi Asuma was out on an important mission, leaving the rest of the squad off for the week.

"Ah, there's nothing better than just lazing around during the afternoon and staring up at the clouds," he uttered lazily, breathing out a soft sigh. "Damn clouds. They have it so easy. Just floating around in the sky without a care. Lucky bastards-... *achoo*. Agh, great, a cold. Just what I need," he muttered with great effort as he wiped at his nose lazily. "What a drag..."

* * *

_**Jutsu List:**_

* * *

_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique)**_

Similar to the basic Clone Technique, the **Shadow Clone Technique** creates copies of the user. However, these clones are corporeal instead of illusions. The clones are capable of performing techniques on their own and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after hit by a strong enough force.

_Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu** (Multi Shadow Clone ****Technique****)**_

The **Multi Shadow Clone Technique** is essentially a massive version of the Shadow Clone Technique. Instead of a few clones, it creates a few hundred clones (or a number of equal grandeur). This is considered a kinjutsu, because it can potentially be dangerous to the person performing it, seeing as how all of the clones are given an equal amount of chakra directly from the user.

_Fūton: Rep__ū__shou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_

**Wind Release: Gale Palm** is a simple technique that when the users hands are clapped together, wind is compressed and transformed into a powerful gale. This technique, when used as an isolated attack has the power to easily knock over a human. Though the true value comes from using it together with projectile weapons like shuriken or kunai. Their speed, power, and ability to wound or even kill are all increased several times.

* * *

_**AN: Well, that's the chapter guys, let me know what you think, I'm trying to get a feel for what you guys are thinking of the way the story is progressing, so drop me a PM or a review and let your thoughts be heard.**_

_**On to the important notice, I'm going to be going on holiday for a while, to a place where there is minimal internet connectivity, so chances are that I'm not going to be able upload another chapter until around the time when I get back from overseas, which is going to be around the 21 July. Apologies for the previous delay and coming delays, but life happens I suppose.**_

_**Onto more of a ranting note, I decided to watch another anime right after I finished my exams, and let me just inform you guys that Sword Art Online is a killer anime :D The first season is out at the moment, not too sure how far the manga is going, deciding to leave this one only to the anime, but the second season is making its debut in June/July sometime, so I recommend you guys take some time out and watch it. You won't regret it :)**_

_**Anyways, that's it for my ramblings, sorry for that again, hope you enjoyed the chapter, till next time...**_


	4. Long Since Overdue

**_AN: Hey guys, chapter 4 is here, and it's a little bit longer than the rest, so I hope you guys enjoy it. Not much more for me to say here, so just gonna leave you guys to your reading. So please, continue... =)_**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 4: Long Since Overdue_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Back in Tsuki no Kuni, the next day..._

* * *

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

_DRIP_

"Agh, Kami, there's only one place that drips like this," Naruto spoke groggily, opening his eyes slowly so that they could adjust to the sudden influx of light that was shining in from everywhere. He wondered countless times where all the light came from in his mind. It just seemed to exist, defying the laws of something; physics, the universe, he didn't know, he just knew that it wasn't normal. But, when was anything ever normal with Naruto. He was about to go and speak with a fox that was staying in his mind. He didn't **_do_** normal. "Ugh, even after all this time I still can't fix that fucking drip!"

He slowly raised himself onto his feet and dusted himself off out of principle, not having dirt or dust anywhere upon his body. He walked for a bit, knowing exactly where he was and where he needed to be now that he had traversed through the inside of his mind countless times. He found where he wanted to be and took a seat on the as-always freshly cut green grass, taking off his shoes and stretching his toes out along the surface. "So Kurama, what do you need? And how long have I been out? The last thing I remember was falling unconscious after throwing my kunai through a tree... Oh yeah, that was awesome wasn't it! I totally nailed the chakra flow technique y'know!"

Naruto was beaming with pride. He had finally managed to learn the technique that he'd been trying to learn for the better part of three months. It would have taken him even longer if it wasn't for the training he had done using his clones. If he had to estimate, he would guess that he had managed to squeeze in the last two months of training that he needed into the previous afternoon. Talk about convenient. He could learn anything with ease if he just used enough clones. Although, that would take away that great feeling you got after mastering a technique. He would have to use it in moderation then.

...

...

...

**_"Ha! Who are you kidding gaki? _**You**_, use that training method in _**moderation**_? I did not even think you possessed such a word in your vocabulary,"_** boomed the voice of Kurama as he bared his fangs in a toothy grin, a grin that was oddly reminiscent of Naruto's foxy grin.

Naruto huffed indignantly and turned away from Kurama. "Y'know, I've noticed that you have become increasingly sarcastic lately," he started with narrowed eyes as he glanced into the red, slitted eyes of his nine-tailed foxy friend. "I don't like it," he deadpanned, his face devoid of emotion.

Kurama snorted in amusement and grinned toothily again. **_"Well I have noticed that you have been increasingly spitting out that verbal tic of yours,"_** he remarked back, enjoying the twitch of Naruto's eyebrow as he stared dangerously towards the fox. **_"Easy there gaki. I did not figure you for one to possess such a look of intense disdain." _**Oh how ironic it was for him to be saying such a thing. The irony was lost on both of them though. One for not knowing, the other for just not realising it.

Naruto continued to stare for a bit before his face softened and he broke out into a fit of laughter. "You're right, do you know how difficult it was for me to keep my face like that," he said while rubbing at his jaw as if in pain. "Honestly, it's exhausting to act angry like that and be hateful. I can't imagine how some people can hate like they do. It's such a terrible feeling."

Kurama nodded slowly and averted his gaze somewhat in shame. **_"Yes, uhm, right. Well, you have been out for only one night. You passed out from exhaustion, as you remember."_** Naruto nodded his head in the affirmative, confirming his knowledge of passing out. **_"Now, the real reason I brought you here was because... I wanted to explain to you properly what I am, and what I am doing here. It is linked to Konohagakure_**_**, and I wanted to explain it to you before we got there for the Chūnin Exams."**_

He allowed Naruto some time to absorb that information. He knew that Naruto had figured out that Kurama wasn't his 'conscience'. That explanation had worked when he was about eight years old, but he was older now, and he knew better. Naruto nodded his head, already figuring that Kurama was hiding something. But he would let him take his time to tell it. He knew that Kurama probably had secrets. Hell, Naruto had secrets, although Kurama probably knew all of them, but that was beside the point. In the end, he would just listen and see what his foxy friend had to say.

**_"I want to tell you now because... there is a good possibility that you will hear about it when you get there. So I would rather you hear it from me before you hear a severely distorted version by someone else. Now, I know that you know of the bij_****_ū_****_, but beyond that your knowledge of them is severely lacking. That is neither here nor there though."_**

He shifted his position and sat up normally, his nine tails swishing carelessly behind him. **_"The bij_****_ū_****_ are extreme masses of chakra, and are differentiated in terms of power by the number of tails they have, ranging from one to nine."_** He watched as realisation slowly started to creep onto Naruto's face, but he continued regardless. **_"The story behind how we were is not important, but after our creation, humans failed to see us as sapient beings, rather treating us as demons and regarding us with fear and scorn. But due to our immense power and chakra, they sought us out to use as nothing more than mere weapons and tools for their every whim. They did this by sealing the tailed beasts away into humans, who would later become known as jinch_****_ū_****_riki."_**

He watched as Naruto's face slowly morphed into one of realisation, his eyes widening as they focused on the nine swishing tails behind the fox. Naruto's eyes drifted to Kurama's, and he could only nod in affirmation. Naruto said nothing though, swallowing heavily and nodding back up to the fox, silently telling him to continue.

**_"I'm sure you have figured it out by now, but in case you haven't, I am the Kyūbi no Kitsune _**_(__Nine Tailed Fox)**, and you are a jinch**_**_ū_****_riki. Now, that being said..."_** Kurama trailed off, not really sure how to continue. It was all up to what Naruto thought on the situation now.

Naruto was silent for a while as he stared down at the floor by his feet, playing with the grass with his toes. He carried on staring right at the ground by his feet, with his hands absently pulling on a few blades of grass. He could feel the fox's uneasiness. It was rolling off of him in droves. He couldn't blame him though. This information was quite a surprise to say the least.

"The Kyūbi no Kitsune, huh? I have the strongest of the bijū sealed within me?" He was silent again for a little while, and Kurama thought he might snap after that. But instead, he let out a soft chuckle and glanced up at the fox's red eyes. "I think that this changes jack shit Kurama. We've been friends now for what, five years? I'm not just gonna turn my back on you just because I now know what or who you are. That would make me some kind of a racist, wouldn't it? And I'm nothing if not tolerant."

Kurama stared at Naruto, trying to discern any negative emotions emanating off of the boy in front of him. He couldn't. His face slowly spread out in a grin, his teeth baring as he smiled down at the blonde. **_"You know Naruto, you never cease to surprise me. I suppose there is some measure of truth behind your moniker, 'The Most Unpredictable Ninja'."_**

Naruto chuckled sheepishly with his hands behind his head. "I suppose so, huh." He grinned up at the orange fox sitting ahead of him and put his ninja sandals back on, getting up onto his feet. "I appreciate you telling me all this Kurama, but this really does change nothing, so I think it's time for me to go. Also, can I tell Shūhei? He's like my brother, my best friend. Surely I can tell him," Naruto begged, his hands clapped together in a placating manner.

Kurama rolled his eyes at the childish behaviour. **_"Honestly... one moment you are as mature as an adult and the next you are squealing like an infant. Nevertheless, tell your friend if you wish, just know that jinchuuriki are usually frowned upon and treated as outcasts, so tread cautiously."_**

Naruto nodded his head with a hesitant look on his face after hearing that, suddenly not so sure about revealing his secret, but smiled back nonetheless. "Okay then, if you would be so kind as to eject me from this plain," he said dramatically, lowering down into an over exaggerated bow.

Kurama once again rolled his eyes but complied. **_"Tch. Damned gaki."_** He spoke with a grin though, feeling a small burden lifted off his massive shoulders. He was now shouldering one less burden, so he was feeling considerably better than normal. He wasn't ready to let his jinchuuriki know that his tailed beast had killed his parents yet though. Not yet anyway. **_'One day gaki...'_**

XxX

Naruto's eyes slowly fluttered open, the light from the window directly in front of him burning his eyes for but a second. He shut his eyes and slowly opened them again, letting them adjust to the light. He opened his eyes and found that he was in his bed, and it looked to be about midday according to the position of the sun.

He slowly pushed himself onto his elbows and looked around his room through scrunched up eyes. Everything seemed to be normal; he was in his pyjamas, his clothes were neatly folded up on his desk, and his weapons were all back on his workbench. He still felt very sweaty and dirty though, and scratched at his arm a bit in disgust. "Ugh, I could really use a nice shower about now."

He slowly swung his feet over the side of the bed and trudged out of his room with a fresh set of clothes in his one hand and a towel in the other. Locking the bathroom door behind him, he untied the bandana around his arm and placed it on the small table beside the sink along with the silver key around his neck. He threw off his pyjama top and was about to drop his pants when he stared intently at his navel. 'I wonder...'

He channelled a small amount of chakra and absently poked at his stomach, looking on in fascination as an intricate seal faded into view. It was the most incredible looking seal he'd ever seen, he told himself silently. 'I wonder who made this seal and sealed Kurama?'

He got no answer though, and decided to forget about it in favour of going back to the shower. He'd shower up nice now and take it easy today, maybe go shoot a few arrows later that evening with Hikaru. Yeah, that sounded like a plan, he repeated sarcastically with a scoff. Him, take it easy... as if. He also had some things he wanted to change with his clothes wear though, so that would come first. 'And, maybe I should tell Shūhei about...' He slowly touched the seal that was still visible on his stomach, tracing the patterns with his finger tip. 'Nah, I-I think it would be best if I wait a little while before telling him. Yeah, just a little while...' Forgetting about that, he jumped into the shower and cleaned himself up. That was highest up on his priorities at the moment.

XxX

Naruto had finished showering a little while ago and was sitting down at his desk with a needle and black thread in hand and piece of sash-cut cloth lying on the desk. He leaned back and placed the needle back onto the table, looking at the handy work that he had done. He was surprisingly good with a needle and stitching things. Who would've figured that he would find a set of skills in the art of sewing? He smiled brightly down at the cloth though. It looked perfect. He had done a really good job with it as well; the cloth looked really authentic.

He stood up and retied his black bandana around his arm, putting the sewing needle and the thread back into a small box on the table. He stepped away from the table with cloth in hand and attached the sash securely to his right hip, smiling proudly. He would wear this sash now for the rest of his life, as a reminder to himself and to others of what he was, and that he wasn't ashamed of it one bit. Maybe a little afraid of what others might think of him though. Located on the sash was the Hakke no Fūin Shiki **(Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)** that was on his stomach. The seal that was keeping Kurama within him. He wouldn't go around blurting that he was a jinchuuriki, but if someone managed to figure it out and ask, he would answer them with pride instead of shame.

He slowly turned towards the mirror and grinned happily. 'So Kurama, what do you think, huh? I think it looks pretty cool. It sort of suits me y'know.' Naruto just felt Kurama nod his head, and that was all he needed to feel to know that Kurama liked it. He didn't like to get too much into the mushy stuff, and Naruto knew that. He turned away from the mirror and moved over to his work bench.

He grabbed his quiver and strapped it securely to his back, as well as slinging his bow over his head and placing that on his back too. He picked up his trench knives and twirled them around his fingers a few times before pocketing them in his hip pouch that he attached earlier. Last but not least, he strapped his shuriken and kunai pouch to his thigh and gave himself a once over in the mirror. "Okay, now before I go out shooting with Hikaru later, it's about time that Shūhei and I have ourselves a little spar. It's been long since overdue I think."

He placed his hands in his pockets and jumped out of his sliding door and onto the balcony railing. "Ah, what a beautiful day for a spar. I hope you're ready Shūhei, because here I come!" He jumped off the balcony in a perfectly-executed swan dive before disappearing in a swirl of leaves and shooting off in a rapid succession of shunshin's to find his friend. He was going to enjoy this. He could just feel it.

* * *

_Elsewhere in the forests of Tsuki no Kuni..._

* * *

Shūhei was leaning up against the trunk of a tree with his hands behind his head and his feet crossed over, relaxing in the serenity of the quiet forest. He had been training a little earlier by the lake located to his left, working on a defensive Suiton jutsu to add to his arsenal of techniques. He had a couple of offensive ones that he was proficient with, but nothing to aid him defensively if the need ever arose.

Suiton was a very versatile chakra nature, and he loved it. It was perfect for him, but it confused many people with the way the jutsu's were performed. You could either manipulate an existing body of water, you could convert your chakra into water and expel it out your mouth, or you could pull the moisture out of the air and the nature around you to perform the jutsu. Now, manipulating an existing body of water was the best and easiest way to perform a Suiton jutsu. It took the least amount of chakra, and you would already have all the water you'd need to complete the jutsu effectively.

The second way was by converting your chakra into water. This would be an effective method if you would ever find yourself in an area that was devoid of any natural water source, cutting off your ability to utilise the first method of performing water jutsu. However, it was not without its drawbacks. It required a considerably larger amount of chakra to use this method, which was why many people who possessed a water natured affinity weren't able to excel in it as far as other chakra natures could, unless they were near a body of water. The amount of chakra necessary to effectively use this second method made it a little touch and go. It was only to be used in dire circumstances or with lower level water techniques, otherwise the drain on your chakra would be too great, and the results could potentially be fatal.

And the last method was by extracting the moisture straight out of the air and wildlife around you, utilising that for your water jutsu. This method was as effective as the first, and didn't have the severe chakra strains that the second method possessed either. It was almost exactly the same as the first method; however you wouldn't need a body of water to use your jutsu's. But, once again, the drawback for this method was an ungodly amount of skill, as well as a certain amount of natural talent that was necessary to even **_think_** about trying to perform. The only person known to have been capable of this method was Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. So, by default, this method was crossed off of Shūhei's list. For now, at least. He wasn't skilled enough yet, but he planned to be. One day...

He let out an exhausted yawn and stretched his limbs out, taking great pleasure in the clicking and popping of some of his bones. "Ah, now that hits the spo-" He was cut off though by the sound of a blade whizzing through the air at high speeds, and immediately shot off to the left in an evasive roll, brandishing a kunai in his left hand and stopping in a crouch with his muscles taut. The offending kunai wedged itself hilt deep into the ground just in the position where his royal jewels were resting a second ago, and he narrowed his eyes in the direction the kunai came from. He was ready to spring into action and counter whoever had decided to mess with him. He'd show them that they decided to pick a fight with the wrong ninja.

That would've been the case, but his thoughts slowly turned from rage and anger to confusion and annoyance when a battle-ready looking Naruto dropped down into the clearing with a kunai spinning non-chalantly around his finger. "Hehe, sorry Shūhei, I didn't think you were going to be at the end of that kunai," he said coolly, looking straight into the teal-greens of his brunette buddy. "But I seem to have caught you at a good time, so how about a spar?"

Shūhei eased up in his stance a little and formed a tick mark upon hearing Naruto's opening statement. "You didn't think I'd be at the end of that kunai," he reiterated softly and slowly, his patience running incredibly thin in record breaking time. Who could blame him though? He'd been relaxing in a most tranquil setting, everything about his previous resting place had just been perfect, and Naruto had gone and messed that up. With a delightfully smug and laidback look on his face too. 'The son of a bitch. I'll kill him. I'll definitely kill him,' he thought in finality, making up his mind and speaking the words as if they were the untold future. "Oh, I'll give you a spar alright. Just don't blink..."

And in a flash of steel, he let fly with two kunai, both shooting through the air at an incredible speed. He was surprised though when they made contact with Naruto, but a lot less surprised when his friend disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a wooden log that was stabbed with two kunai in his place. Shūhei didn't have much time to think though as Naruto came rushing in from a bush behind him, his arm drawn back to slash with a kunai in his hand.

They met in a clash of steel, sparks flying out every which way as they battled for dominance with their kunai. "Hey, Shūhei, are we sparring here or are we having a tea party?" questioned Naruto sarcastically in a somewhat strained voice as he slowly started pushing Shūhei back in their battle of strength. "Kick it into gear would ya?" Naruto grunted out, giving Shūhei a quick shove and then sending him flying with a followed-up roundhouse to the stomach.

Shūhei flew backwards and hit the ground once before he righted himself and landed back on his feet, his kunai in front of him and ready for another attack. Shūhei smirked from his position and pulled out a fistful of shuriken. "Be careful what you ask for..." He threw the kunai in his one hand straight for Naruto and released his shuriken right after, sending Naruto left and right as he dodged the small barrage of weapons.

Naruto dodged the weapons and rolled to the left, stopping in a crouch as he avoided the final shuriken. There was a sudden gust of wind and a spiral of leaves around him, but as soon as it started, it ended, and the leaves dropped to the ground around him. He looked all around the clearing, but was unable to spot his brunette friend. Shūhei was gone. 'Heh, clever. Using the leaves as a distraction to escape the immediate vicinity. Very clever indeed...'

The sound of rustling bushes caught his attention, and he turned his head with his kunai held in a reverse grip, ready to set off in a dash at Shūhei. A hand gripped at the wood of the tree from behind, and upon second glance, he noticed that it was rather bloody. Long, red hair became visible from behind the tree as the figure stumbled out from the cover of the tree, holding a hand over their bloodied chest that was riddled with slash marks and deep cut wounds. "N-Naruto... help m-me... please N-Naruto"

Naruto squinted his eyes at the emerging figure for a second before his eyes widened and his arms dropped to his sides lamely. He recognised this woman. He had seen her many times before, but only in a picture. He had burned the image of her into his brain so that he would never forget her. This was... it was his...

"Mom..." he breathed out, his body shaking in disbelief. He blinked back tears and stared at her for a while longer before realising that she was hurt and started running towards her. "Mom!" He was now running at full speed towards her, his heart beating wildly in his chest. She was hurt. He needed to get to her and try to help her. 'She could be dying! She's in terrible shape! She could be-'

**_'Naruto, stop! This is a genjutsu. Release it now!'_** roared Kurama loudly from within Naruto's mind, watching the whole scene from his perched up position. He would've helped Naruto with the genjutsu by using his own chakra, but he and Naruto had never tried using his chakra before and had never trained with it. They hadn't even talked about it. Hell, he reckoned Naruto didn't even know of the possibility of using Kurama's chakra. But he didn't want to try it out until they had trained with it a little first. He didn't know what the effects would be if he decided to force his chakra through with this type and level of seal holding him back. There were still too many unanswered questions which he still wanted answered before he started trying to use his chakra with Naruto's.

Naruto came to an abrupt halt with tears in his eyes and looked towards his stomach. 'H-how sure are you Kurama?! That's my mother standing there! She's in trouble, she needs my help!' This was his mother. He had seen her only in his picture, and now she was standing right in front of him.

**_'Do not be a fool gaki! That is not your mother, now release the genjutsu and move, that friend of yours is about to land a hit on you! Trust me!'_** Kurama was now standing on all fours, an angry look on his face. He and his host would need to work on their trust it seemed. Although he was considered a demon and the worst of the tailed beasts, as well as the embodiment of hatred, he had changed, and he needed to let his friend know he could be trusted.

Naruto gritted his teeth and blinked back the rest of his tears, looking intently towards his mother. She was right there, her hand clutched at her bloodied stomach, her breathing ragged and a fearful look on her face. 'I... I trust you Kurama...' He took the kunai in his hand and brought it down into his thigh, the pain distorting the picture of his mother as she faded from view. Not the most elegant way to dispel a genjutsu, but effective nonetheless. He dropped to his hands and knees from the mental shock of the genjutsu and breathed raggedly as he stared at the ground where his 'mother' had been standing. 'Thanks, Kuram-...'

He was interrupted by a foot sweeping him up off the ground, knocking the air right out of his lungs. He was sent flying into the air, hanging there for a few seconds before a figure materialised above him and kicked him in the back, sending him back down towards the ground with a decent amount of force. His body made contact with the ground and a massive cloud of dust flew up around him as he was deposited inside a small crater.

Shūhei dropped to the ground several metres away from Naruto and placed his kunai in a reverse grip. "I told you to be careful for what you asked for didn't I?" he questioned cockily, smirking in the direction of the dust cloud. "That was _Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu **(Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)**_. I do feel a bit bad for using it on you. I know you aren't too good with genjutsus, and I heard you mumbling things about your mom..."

He looked to the ground at his feet for a second and lowered his kunai, starting to feel slightly regretful for what he did now. He didn't know his mother either, so he only wished that he could see her. And he had somehow made Naruto see his own mother, except she must've been in pretty bad condition considering the type of genjutsu he had used. He felt horrible at the moment. "I... I'm sorry Naruto..."

_"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow Clone Technique)!"**_ From within the dust cloud came five Naruto's, each one coming in at Shūhei with their fists raised in a taijutsu stance. Two of the Naruto's took to Shūhei's flanks and started sliding in when they got close enough, while one ran in and took off in a slide at Shūhei's legs from the front. By the time Shūhei realised that he was being attacked, he was already too far in to the 3-stage attack that he couldn't get out.

His eyes glanced to the incoming clones, but all of them were already upon him. The clones from the slides all kicked him upwards into the air, knocking out most of the wind in his lungs. The fourth Naruto used one of the clones on the ground as a spring board and jumped into Shūhei's abdomen legs first, sending him higher into the air and knocking any further air in his lungs right out. The final Naruto had already taken to running up one of the largest trees and was already in the air, using the added force of gravity to plummet into Shūhei from above. The clone struck Shūhei in the back with both its legs and rode him all the way down until they reached the earth in a massive, dusty explosion.

The remaining clones of Naruto dispelled in a cloud of smoke and the original Naruto dropped down from one of the trees and landed in the clearing with his trench knives drawn and held in reverse grips, blades at the ready to strike quickly. Shūhei stumbled wearily out of the cloud of dust with his arm drawn over his stomach, a line of blood trailing down the side of his head. He dropped to the floor and kept a steady hand grasping at his stomach, a few ribs potentially broken from the blunt force of that last attack.

"Don't apologise to me Shūhei," Naruto began, walking a little closer to his brunette friend. "We're having a spar, so don't hold back." Naruto loosened his grip on the trench knives ever so slightly as he stared intently at Shūhei. "The whole reason I wanted to do this spar in the first place was so that we could get to know each other's skills better. We're going to be competing in the Chūnin Exams soon, and you're more level headed than I am, so at times, you might know how to utilise my skills better than even I do."

Shūhei looked through squinted eyes at Naruto, his lips twitching into a small smirk as gave a nod of his head. "I understand. You're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for. In that case..." he started, as he stealthily wrapped an explosive note around the grip of his kunai behind his back. "... let's start this up again!"

He threw the kunai from behind his back straight at Naruto, intentionally aiming it a little more left to force Naruto to the right where there was a barricade of trees. The explosive note detonated in the spot where Naruto was standing only moments ago, having dodged it with a well timed roll to the right. Shūhei grinned to himself and began going through hand seals. 'Let's see how you like this one Naruto...' Ending on the Hare seal, he brought his right hand up next to his mouth and took aim at Naruto. _"Suiton: Mizurappa **(Water Release: Wild Water Wave)!"**_

A torrent of water raced towards Naruto in a thin stream, looking to do some intense damage to him if he remained in the jutsu's path. Unfortunately for Naruto though, he was still in mid-air from his evasive roll, so the jutsu hit him dead on and sent him careening into the trunk of a tree, his back indenting the wood and sending splinters of bark in every direction. Naruto peeled away from the tree and fell onto his hands and knees, coughing up small blotches of blood. He had taken the full brunt of Shūhei's jutsu, and it had done his body quite a bit of damage. He coughed again and pushed himself back onto his feet, stumbling a couple of times before maintaining his balance.

"That's, *pant*, more like it Shūhei," he breathed out, gripping tightly on his trench knives once more. So this was Shūhei's true strength. Or a portion of it at least. Naruto had always known Shūhei was strong, and now he was starting to show it. They seldom ever trained together, and when they did, it was never anything too crazy like the sparring they were doing now. The only time they had trained together before was when they were learning an Academy required jutsu, and he couldn't really get a good read on Shūhei's skill from that.

Nevertheless, this was what he'd wanted right from the beginning; for Shūhei to come at him with everything he had. For this training to work, they needed to see the skills that each possessed so that they could better their teamwork. So he needed to pull out all his skills here. So, with that in mind, he reached back and unhooked his bow from around his body and pulled out an arrow, loading it into position to be fired. "Get ready Shūhei..." he said softly, drawing the arrow back its full length. This spar was only just beginning.

XxX

It wasn't long before nightfall encompassed Tsuki no Kuni, bathing the island in the soft white rays of moonlight from above. The lunar rays shone through the canopy of the forest, illuminating the figures of Naruto and Shūhei as they sat back to back on the ground... or what was left of it anyways. After the spar that had just taken place between the two shinobi in training, the once peaceful and stunning landscape of this particular clearing had been turned into the remnants of a battlefield.

Craters littered the ground, ranging from all different sizes, but the most prominent of the craters being the human shaped ones. Fallen branches from trees all around were scattered across the forest floor, a healthy amount of leaves and splinters accompanying them. It left little to the imagination of the kind of battle that had taken place here not too long ago.

Naruto and Shūhei breathed heavily as they held each other up with their respective body weights. They'd just finished up with their spar, and decided that a small rest was in order before they headed back up to the castle. Shūhei's body was numb in most places, and he was sure that he was covered in bruises from head to toe. He had several small cuts and slashes all over his body, his clothes sporting several holes as well. Naruto was a lot less beat up, his cuts and bruises already beginning to heal up thanks to his Uzumaki lineage and nine-tailed furry tenant. His clothes also sported several holes, but that was no major train smash for the jinchuuriki. He had plenty of spare clothes.

Naruto turned his head skywards and closed his eyes, letting the rhythmic motion of Shūhei's breathing send him into a content stillness. He was positively beat, and he was pretty sure that Shūhei was as well. "You're a lot more skilled than you let on, y'know," Naruto said evenly, breathing out softly as the cool breeze of the night ruffled the loose locks of his blonde hair. "I never knew you were that good."

Shūhei attempted a shrug, but his body was too exhausted and unresponsive to comply, so all he got was a slight move of the shoulders. He was way too tired to be the slightest bit embarrassed from the praise as well, just nodding his head softly as his teal-green orbs surveyed the star-filled night sky. "Yeah, well, we don't really train together, and I don't slack off most of the time like you do," he replied challengingly, a small smirk making its way onto his face.

Naruto frowned and turned his head slightly to the side, his eyes still remaining closed as he prepared to battle for his reputation. "Hey, who're you calling a slacker, you good for nothing ass?! I find you lounging around in the castle more often than not when I get home most nights!" Naruto refuted loudly, finding some energy to give his friend's back a small shove.

Shūhei's eyes narrowed as he continued to look up into the sky, listening to his friend's words and scoffing in annoyance. "Pfft, don't give me that crap. You lounge around in the castle just as much as I do, so if I'm an ass, then so are you."

"Whatever..." Naruto breathed, deciding to let Shūhei win this little scuffle for now. He just didn't have the desire to want to get into a fight with his friend now after having just had one. Heaving another soft sigh, he slowly rocked his body forward and pushed himself tiredly to his feet, giving Shūhei a small flick over the head. "Get up; it's time to head back. I'm sure Kakeru-ojiisan and Michiru-ojisan are starting to get worried."

They'd gone back to the castle this late many times before, if not later on certain occasions, but the two elder male inhabitants of the castle would always wait up for the teens to return from their training sessions, refusing to go to sleep until all hands were accounted for. It was a reassuring action, and Naruto appreciated the sentiment, but it got a little annoying sometimes, like they were still being treated like kids. He shook his head though and flicked his friend over the head again.

"Hey, would you stop doing that?!" cried Shūhei indignantly, rubbing the spot at the back of his head softly. Seriously, if he was flicked on the back of the head one more time... "Try that again, and you'll lose that finger." His threat fell on deaf ears though as the blonde proceeded to flick the brunette again, the brunette unfortunately just not having the energy to put up any kind of a fight even though he had just made the threat to take action.

Naruto snickered softly but pulled Shūhei up from under his arm and gave himself a slight pat down to relieve himself of any dust. "Alright, alright, don't get you knickers in a knot. Anyway, come on, let's go. You're burning moon light," he said half seriously, moving Shūhei to his left so that he could prop his best friend over his shoulder and help carry him back to the castle. He unfortunately couldn't heal with as much speed as Naruto could, but he was fine with that.

Naruto was somewhat a freak of nature with his massive chakra reserves and increased healing ability. They just chalked that up to being hereditary, something he got from his parents. They preferred not to talk about their parents though. Both hadn't known either their father or mother, and Naruto wasn't even sure if Shūhei knew what they looked like. He at least had a picture of someone who he was sure was his mother. He could probably ask Kurama about it, but ultimately decided against it. He'd just carry on with life as normal.

It didn't take them terribly long to get back to the castle. Despite being thoroughly exhausted, they made good time and were trodding tiredly through the halls of the castle, Naruto almost completely dragging Shūhei now. "Ugh, Shūhei, you can't fall asleep yet! We haven't even made it to your room yet!" Naruto cried indignantly, shrugging Shūhei back onto his shoulder properly before he fell to the ground. 'Seems he's out like a light... and he's making me carry him.' His eyes held a certain amount of irritation in them before they took on a mischievous glint, the bangs of his hair overshadowing them momentarily. 'I think a little payback's in order... for making me carry him and for that little genjutsu stunt he pulled earlier...'

He balanced Shūhei on his back once again, freeing up both his hands as he put them into the cross hand seal and summoned a single shadow clone, substituting with his doppelganger and making sure it had its relayed orders. He grinned deviously as he watched the clone walk down the hall the rest of the way and disappear into Shūhei's room, snickering softly as he turned heel and made his way to the stairs and up to the next floor. 'Ah Shūhei... As a ninja, you should know never to let down your guard,' he thought victoriously, rubbing his hands together in a typically sinister way. Oh how he loved the art of pranking.

He went for a quick shower and walked back at a subdued pace until he reached his room, pushing the door open and walking in slowly. He turned his head slowly and looked back out his door, having just received the memories of his clone. 'It is done,' he thought evilly, closing the door to his room slowly. He gave one last peep out the door and let out an uncharacteristic cackle. Oh, this was going to be priceless.

* * *

_The next morning, Tsuki no Kuni..._

* * *

It was early in the morning, the sun only just peeking its head up over the horizon in the distance, not a breath of wind present at the current time of day. Shūhei's alarm wasn't set to go off for another two and a half hours at least, so his body curled a bit and he reigned in some more blanket, trying to keep the warmth locked in.

His eyes shot open wide as saucers and his mouth fell agape though as the screech of a high pitched horn filled his entire world, breathing heavily as his heart raced from the rude awakening. Despite his eyes being open as wide as they were, his vision was pretty hazy, and he couldn't make out much in the dim light of his room.

The noise continued to ring through his ears, and they soon felt like they were going to explode, the ringing becoming almost unbearable. He turned his head towards where the sound was coming from, his breathing still ragged and his heart still racing, only for his heart to suddenly stop as he looked to his left, and then start up furiously once again as the situation caught up with him. "AHHHH!"

He let out a high pitched shrill, something that shouldn't have been possible for someone of his gender. Sitting in the bed next to him was a dummy with the mask of the Shinigami placed firmly over its face. But to Shūhei who had been so rudely awakened and who's mind was still in complete turmoil, he couldn't tell the difference, so he proceeded to leap up from his bed and right out his side, landing back-first on the floor and crawling backwards to get as far away as he could from the most feared being he knew of. The Shinigami.

His heart continued to beat heavily in his chest, his breathing becoming increasingly more laboured as he backed away from his bed. "Ah, shit! Fuck me! What the fuck is going on?!" he cursed loudly, his head darting all over the place while his ears were still ringing from the horn, and now, his hands and ass paining like mad. He looked to the ground to where he was lying and found that his entire floor was covered in mouse traps, with a multitude of them now clamped tightly over various parts of his body, causing him immeasurable amounts of pain. His heart was racing too fast for him to stop though, and he continued backing away until he reached his door, throwing his hand up and looking for the door handle frantically.

He eventually found the door knob and pushed the door open, crawling backwards until he felt ice cold liquid pepper his body from above, sending his body to the next extreme of pain, causing his muscles to spasm and his body to jolt upright back onto his feet. After jumping to his feet, he turned heel and tried to run, his eyes still half closed from the water dripping into them; but he only succeeded in running body first into a massive sack of flour which had been placed there the night before by a certain blonde.

After smashing into the sack of flour, he slowly backed away and allowed himself several minutes to finally calm down, opening his eyes slowly and wiping away any flour that was around his eyes, spluttering as he choked on a small amount of the flavourless powder that managed to find its way into his mouth. He slowly shook his arms and the rest of his body, turning back to his room to see just what the fuck had happened.

He looked through his door, and found an alarm clock on the other half of his double bed; an alarm clock that was fitted with a massive blow horn. Then there was the dummy with the Shinigami mask on, which was strategically placed on the same side as the alarm clock so that he would see it when he tried to switch it off. He looked over all the mouse traps that were still laying all over the floor, some undisturbed while others were clamped shut on the ground or clamped shut to his body. An empty bucket of what was filled with ice cold water was lying in the middle of the door way, and then there was the sack of flour placed right outside his door. His head darted left and right and he spotted a small tuft of blonde hair outside his window that disappeared in a puff of smoke the moment he eyed it. "There's no question," he muttered while spluttering and spitting out some more flour. "I'll kill him. You hear that Naruto! I'LL KILL YOU!"

* * *

_Meanwhile, elsewhere in Tsuki no Kuni..._

* * *

Naruto was currently hopping from tree to tree, on his way to a new training ground he had found a few days ago. Firstly because he and Shūhei had destroyed their previous one with their most recent spar, and secondly, because Naruto didn't want to be found any time soon with the possibly irate Shūhei-

"...-hear that Naruto! I'LL KILL YOU!" Okay, the most definitely irate Shūhei; or maybe absolutely livid were the right words. He landed on another branch and jumped off at the same time the memories of the clone he'd posted outside Shūhei's room flooded back to him, causing him to come close to losing his balance and falling to the ground as he laughed himself to tears. Shūhei's face had been priceless as he was woken up with the blow horn, and once he got a look at the 'Shinigami', he took on a look of pure terror.

It was the funniest thing he'd seen in years, and Kurama seemed to think so too, his cackling laugh echoing out through Naruto's mind. **_'You may not be that well versed in the ninja arts yet, but you sure know your way around a prank gaki,'_** Kurama praised, his mouth set into a toothy grin as he laughed uproariously at Naruto's prank.

'Hey, I'm not that bad a ninja,' he snapped back quickly, but his face immediately morphed into a shit-eating grin as he thought of the prank again. 'And thanks. The look on his face was **_priceless_**, wasn't it,' he thought excitedly, getting all giddy like a schoolgirl.

He loved to pull pranks. It was one of his favourite pastimes. He would pull pranks all over Tsuki no Kuni, hitting people of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were harmless, but he had exceptions for certain individuals, such as the soldier that had tried to kill Shūhei some five years ago. Of course, everyone knew that he was the one pulling the pranks, but nobody had ever been able to catch him or put him together with his pranks at the same time, so he was still to this day, 'at large', if you could call it that.

'You should feel honoured Kurama. You're jinchuuriki is the mightiest prankster in all of the elemental nations,' he thought confidently, smirking at that despite himself. He didn't like to talk big about himself, but this was just one of those things that he had no doubt about. He **_was_** the greatest prankster in all the elemental nations. It was as simple as that. **_'I do not doubt you on that front gaki. I will give you credit where credit is due, your pranks never cease to surprise me.'_**

Naruto absorbed the praise like a sponge and tuned back into the outside world, focusing on his path. He was still quite far away, but he planned to change that now. He thought that now was probably as good a time as any to try out something new he'd been thinking about. It was a variation he had thought up regarding the _Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Technique)**_.

The Shunshin was a high speed movement technique that allowed ninja to move short distances at almost untraceable speeds by using chakra to temporarily vitalise the body. Now, if he could move as fast as he could with just using his normal chakra, what could he accomplish if he used his wind natured chakra instead?

He'd taken the time to sit down and think long and hard about the effects, going so far as to do a little bit of research about such a technique in the library. He hadn't found anything in particular on what he was thinking about, but he had read about something similar. It was a jutsu that was utilised and made famous by the past and present Raikage of Kumogakure no Sato **(Village Hidden in the Clouds)**.

Instead of wind chakra, they would use their lightning natured chakra and wrap it around their body like armour, which would electrically stimulate the user's nervous system so that they could move at unnatural speeds. The name of the technique wasn't known, and there wasn't much else that was said about it in the book, but if the Raikage had managed to do it with lightning chakra, then it should theoretically be possible with wind natured chakra.

Thanks to his clone training method, his proficiency with his elemental affinity was pretty strong without having finished the second step of his element's training. He had yet to find a waterfall to use, and with Shūhei's current state of mind from the recent prank, he'd most likely be unwilling to help him out on that front for quite a while. At the very least, his ability with his wind natured chakra would be more than enough to try out his new version of the shunshin. The shunshin was only a D-rank technique, so he doubted he'd need any more mastery over wind nature to enhance it.

He focused his eyes back to the forest and stopped on the next branch. He proceeded to draw out his wind chakra, attempting to, like with his normal shunshin, vitalise his body with chakra, but with wind natured chakra instead. The effects were instantaneous, and he immediately felt a dramatic decrease in his overall weight. His entire body was covered in an extremely thin layer of his wind natured chakra, giving him a soft blue glow with a tinge of white mixed in, giving him a sort of ghostly appearance.

He drew his arms back and forth a bit, testing out what this newly discovered phenomenon was capable of, and was thoroughly surprised by what he saw. His arms were moving at an extremely fast speed, and it almost felt like he wasn't moving them at all. The ease with which his entire body was moving was uncomprehendable. It felt as if a massive weight had just been removed from his body, and he had an odd sensation of feeling like he was floating, but looking to the ground, he found that his feet were planted firmly on the branch.

What also piqued his interest was that, each time he moved his arm, the wind chakra that was surrounding his arm would remain in that place for a little less than a second, leaving a somewhat blurred afterimage. He had never felt so great in his life, and this was just with his basic mastery of his element. His mind immediately began racing to what would be possible if he had a full mastery over his element, but pushed those thoughts to the side in favour of testing out this new jutsu he had discovered.

'Alright, so now that I know it's actually possible to surround myself with my wind chakra, let's see what it does to the shunshin.' Looking to a branch that was on the other side of a small clearing he was standing by, he shot forward 20 metres to the desired branch, but wound up smacking into the trunk of the tree several metres ahead of where he wanted to land.

"Ugh, well that was weird. I went further than normal... or maybe I just moved faster than I normally did," he wondered out loud while rubbing at his forehead, trying to soothe the pain. He shrugged off the lingering dirt and looked towards the next tree, shunshining towards it and landing with extreme difficulty, being careful not to overshoot it again. He landed in his spot and after regaining his balance, looked back to the branch he came from, eyeing it carefully as a blurry figure of himself standing there faded back out of view after a second of watching it. His wind chakra seemed to leave after images as well, and when he wasn't moving that fast or shunshining, his body almost looked like it was flickering as the wind chakra left behind after images.

"This is so cool," he squealed excitedly, staring at his arm as he threw it up and down repeatedly, watching in fascination as the after images left behind made it look like he was walking through a strobe light. "I wonder if anybody else has discovered this?" he idly thought, throwing a few practice punches as well as kicks, somewhat mesmerised by the after images. It was just so cool, he thought, that he was moving so fast as to leave behind after images. Obviously it wasn't all just his speed, but when it was used in conjunction with his wind chakra, it created the after image.

'Forget about training on _Fūton: Repūshou **(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**_ today, I'll have my clones do that. I'm gonna see how far I can go with this, and then I'll need to think of a name for it later. Shūhei will never be able to catch me again,' he thought gleefully, taking satisfaction in that. He wasn't looking forward to when he got home and Shūhei got a hold of him. That wasn't going to be a fun time.

He set off with his training in mind, eager as ever to get stronger. With this little trick he'd just learned, he was planning to start working a lot more on his speed. If nobody could touch him or catch him, then he'd be more than strong enough to take on whoever was thrown his way.

He let the wind chakra covering his body dissipate, letting out a laboured breath as he did so and holding himself up with one hand planted firmly against the trunk of the tree beside him. "Damn, *pant*, pumping out this much wind chakra at a time for as long as I did, *pant*, is really exhausting," he thought between breaths, sweat instantly materialising on his face and neck as the wind chakra faded away.

The technique of combining the shunshin with his wind chakra offered him great speeds, but at his current mastery of wind chakra, it looked like he wasn't going to be able to maintain it for too long. It seemed that it wasn't without its drawbacks, but he was sure that he could reduce those drawbacks significantly with enough training.

He'd just need more practise with the technique to get his body more accustomed to the strain, and whenever he found a waterfall, he'd need to practice more with his element to make using this much wind chakra less taxing. The second stage of wind manipulation; the cutting of a waterfall with your wind chakra; would help to increase the strength and amount of wind chakra you could create, as well as increase the amount of time you could constantly expel wind natured chakra.

'Suppose I still have quite a long way to go then,' he thought tiredly, breathing heavily as he regained his breath. Kurama decided that moment to make himself known again, and nodded his head sagely. **_'I have no doubt that the technique you have accidentally developed is very interesting, and it has the possibility to be so much more; but, until you acquire further mastery over your elemental affinity, you will never be able to use this technique to its fullest potential.'_**

Naruto nodded in agreement, having come to somewhat of the same conclusion. **_'But, nevertheless gaki, you have stumbled upon a treasure by creating this technique. It could prove truly formidable in the future.'_** Naruto smiled bashfully, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment as he absorbed the praise like a sponge. 'Ah, you don't have to say that y'know. It's not that great,' he thought timidly, playing down just how great of a technique it could be. All it needed was a little... No, scratch that. All it needed was **_a lot_** of practice, and it would certainly start turning heads. Kurama rolled his eyes and lay his head back down on its usual resting place. **_'That annoying verbal tic is as prominent as ever I see...'_**

Naruto waited a little longer until he was breathing normally again, and proceeded to move on to his previous destination before he tried out his new technique again. He'd create 20 shadow clones once he got there and have ten of them work on his other Fūton jutsu, and then he'd take the other ten with him to work on his new jutsu.

He still wasn't too sure what limitations there were for using his shadow clones to help him train, so he didn't want to overdo it. 50 clones last time had left him extremely exhausted, and it had literally knocked him out. He was going to try a little less this time. He didn't really want to spend another day being knocked out in bed. He hated it when he was unable to continue with his training and being bed-ridden was pretty much the only thing that prevented it for Naruto.

He didn't really have a need to train any faster either, and he was training 20 times faster than normal with the shadow clones he was using now already. When the time came when he was pressed for time, he'd see how far he could push it, but now was not that time. He still had nothing **_but_** time. For the moment, at least.

* * *

**_Jutsu List:_**

* * *

__Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu__**__ **(Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique)**__**

**Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique** is a genjutsu that reveals the fears that dwell inside people's hearts. Everyone has an image of the one thing they wouldn't want to ever see. This genjutsu is a technique that draws forth such an image from within the heart and has one mistake it for reality.

_Suiton: Mizurappa **(Water Release: Wild Water Wave)**_

The **Water Release: Wild Water Wave** is a basic Water Release technique which has many variations. Water gushes out from the mouth like a waterfall and washes away the enemy. One can freely control the power of this technique with the amount chakra one releases.

* * *

_**AN: So, that's it for chapter 4. After he had trained himself into unconsciousness (as would be expected), he and Kurama had a bit of a heart-to-heart. Also, I tried to include as much as possible with the fight between Naruto and**** Shūhei, but I'm not sure how well it was written; not too good with the fights, so let me know what you guys thought.**_

_**Otherwise, that's all from my side, so till next time...  
**_


	5. Departure

**_AN: Well hello again, here's the next chapter :) This one's a bit shorter again, but that's just how it came out. Hope it's not too bad, so please read and review, again, let me know how you guys find the story. It really helps the writer when he knows if he's doing something right or wrong-... Ahem, I seem to be rambling again. Please, continue with the story :)_**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 5: Departure_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_In the forests of Tsuki no Kuni, one and a half months later..._

* * *

_"Fūton: Repūshou __**(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**__!"_ shouted Naruto with his hands clapped together as he performed the concussive wind jutsu again, a compressed gale of wind shooting forth and smashing into the two clones in front of him, sending them flying into the tree at the edge of the clearing. They smashed into the trunk of the tree with an audible thud, dispelling the moment they hit and reverting back into smoke from the damage.

Naruto jumped back to the other side of the clearing, narrowly avoiding a hail of kunai that struck the area he had been standing in a moment ago, before said kunai went up in a small explosion, revealing them to be covered in explosive tags. 'Heh, looks like my clones are going all out this time and staying back, trying to attack from a distance. Big mistake...'

He channelled chakra into the brown bracer that was now worn around his left forearm, his bow being summoned from the storage seal inscribed on it in a puff of smoke. He gripped his recurve bow tightly and channelled another small amount of chakra into the thumb ring located on his right thumb, an arrow wrapped with an explosive tag summoning into his hand with another small wisp of smoke. With practised ease, he drew the arrow back at great speed and let it fly up into the trees above at the other side of the clearing, pulling his right hand into the Ram seal and grinning widely. "Katsu."

The arrow exploded in a shower of leaves and splinters, the debris falling slowly to the ground as a cloud of smoke enveloped the canopy above the clearing. Sending a little more chakra into his thumb ring, he summoned three ordinary arrows this time, loading them all into his bow and pulling them back simultaneously, flowing wind chakra into all three to increase their speed and penetrating power to compensate for the difficulty of firing them all at once.

Just as he'd expected, the last three clones that had been hiding jumped out from the top of the trees all at once, each with their kunai drawn and ready to attack. Naruto grinned again and let fly with all the arrows, nailing each clone in the torso area and dispelling them all at once.

He resealed his bow into his bracer and quickly fetched each of his arrows that were salvageable, sealing those back into his thumb ring as well. He had gotten the idea to seal his arrows and bow into the bracer and thumb ring from Korega-taichou one day, who'd suggested that it would give him better mobility if he didn't have to lug the bow and quiver on his back. And boy had he been right. His agility wasn't as hampered now either, and he could conceal the fact that he was skilled in long range combat this way as well.

How it worked was he had drawn a simple storage seal into his arm bracer, a seal that was taught to all upcoming shinobi at the Getsugakure Academy. He had done the same for the thumb ring, except he had sealed the normal arrows into one side of the thumb ring, and then he'd drawn another seal on the opposite side that contained all his arrows armed with explosive notes. It allowed him to carry more arrows with him this way as well. It was limited to as many as he could make actually, and he'd gotten his clones to make him quite the sum of arrows – man he loved the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**_ jutsu.

He jumped up to the branch and turned south, vitalising his body with wind chakra and shooting off to the shore in a burst of speed, leaving behind an after image of himself that remained for a second before it faded into nothing but a small breeze of air.

He had gotten about as good as he could with the technique, which he had taken to simply calling _Fūton: Shunshin __**(Wind Release: Body Flicker) **_for now. If he wanted to improve upon the technique he'd developed, he'd need further training in his element, which he hadn't been able to get due to the absence of waterfalls on this island.

But his current proficiency with his wind natured shunshin wasn't what was on the blonde's mind at the moment. He landed on the sandy shoreline of Tsuki no Kuni with a wisp of dust trailing behind him. Turning to the palm trees that ran along the shoreline and sidling up against one with his back, he looked out across the ocean from his favourite spot for what was going to be the last time for quite a while.

He and Shūhei were scheduled to be leaving for Hi no Kuni **(Land of Fire)** early tomorrow morning, where they'd arrive at Degarashi Port in Cha no Kuni **(Land of Tea)** and be escorted by shinobi of Konoha to their village by foot. He was a little anxious about leaving his home if he was honest; he hadn't left the island for as long as he'd been alive, and now he was leaving for the first time to go participate in the Chūnin Exams. The fact that Shūhei was going to be right beside him every step of the way was reassuring to say the least. They'd be experiencing life off of Tsuki no Kuni together, and he was glad it was Shūhei going with him.

He took in a deep breath of air and sighed out softly, closing his eyes as he just listened to the sound of the crashing waves belting the sandy shores with water. There was nothing quite as relaxing as just listening to the sounds of the waves roaring. Watching the clouds float by was a welcomed addition to the relaxation process, but sometimes, just closing his eyes and listening to the sea was enough for him.

Although he was feeling slightly anxious over leaving, his excitement for finally making it to the Chūnin Exams was barely containable. He was literally bouncing off the walls, the anticipation of fighting so many strong opponents giving him goose bumps. The good kind though.

He was also excited about trying out the foreign cuisine and seeing what the food was like in Hi no Kuni. He was going to be looking out for one thing and one thing only when he got there. Ramen. What was their ramen going to taste like, and was it going to be better than what the castle's chef's prepared. He sincerely hoped so. Because that would mean he'd be eating some pretty amazing ramen soon if it was more delicious than what the chef's here managed to cook up each time. And the ramen from the castle was top notch.

He heard the sound of crunching sand, and didn't even bother to crack open an eye lid, already knowing exactly who it was. Having spent as much time as he had with him these past few weeks, he was pretty attuned to the feel of his chakra. He was no sensor, but he'd been around this chakra for long enough to be able to feel it out within a reasonable area.

Shūhei plopped down on the sand beside him, remaining in a sitting position as he slowly raked his hands through the soft white sand of the beach, repeating the process over and over. "I knew I'd find you here. You're always here if you can't be found anywhere else," Shūhei said softly, his voice uncharacteristically subdued.

Naruto 'hmmd' in response and continued to sit in silence on the beach front, letting Shūhei continue to voice his thoughts. "The Chūnin Exams are finally here. It's been a long and windy road, but we finally made it," the brunette started, looking out at the horizon as he continued to draw circles aimlessly in the sand with his fingers. "And we'll be leaving Tsuki no Kuni tomorrow for the first time..." Ah, so that's what he was feeling slightly nervous about, Naruto mused. "Do you really think we're ready for this?" he asked tentatively, turning his head to look back at the whiskered blonde.

Naruto took a deep breath and let out another soft sigh, propping himself up on his elbows as he looked at Shūhei. "Do you trust me Shūhei?"

Shūhei didn't even blink and answered in the span of a second, not needing any more time to think of his answer. "With my life, you know that..."

Naruto nodded his head at Shūhei and then looked back out towards the ocean front. "Well, I truly believe more than anything that we are ready for this," he said sincerely, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He was speaking the honest-to-Kami truth here, and he meant every word he said. "This is what we've been training for since we started at the Academy. If we're not ready by now, we'll never be ready..." He took another soft breath of air and looked back to Shūhei. "If you start doubting yourself and your own abilities, it'll be over before you can even get the chance to start. Just believe in yourself and have a little faith. Believe in **_me_**..." he said earnestly, his face a mask of unbridled confidence.

Shūhei was left almost speechless by the sheer determination radiating in Naruto's blue orbs, and managed to nod his head with a small smile, his voice momentarily lost on him. Naruto nodded at Shūhei's answer and looked back out towards the all-blue. "Let's just enjoy the view for a little longer," he said, the contentment he was feeling at the current situation leaking through his words. "It'll be a while before we get to see the ocean again."

Shūhei stared at Naruto for a little bit longer, his curiosity getting the better of him. Naruto seemed... different. Almost more mature, if he had to try and explain it. He was being oddly serious and calm about the whole situation. He seemed more than confident in their abilities to participate in the Chūnin Exams, and that confidence, that belief that they were more than ready, caused Shūhei's lips to curl upwards into a knowing smile as he gazed up into the skies at the fluffy white clouds that were floating on by, sitting with Naruto in a comfortable silence for the remainder of the afternoon. 'I believe in you Naruto...'

* * *

_The next morning, on the seas of the Kanashii Ocean..._

* * *

Naruto sat at the head of the ship, the cold ocean winds blowing into his face as they raced forward towards Cha no Kuni at incredible speeds, their destination being Degarashi Port. The trip that he and Shūhei were embarking on now with the current captain and crew would be, under normal circumstances, an extremely long trip, close to around 20 days, if not more. But with their current heading, they were catching immense tail winds and were sailing with the powerful current of the ocean, allowing their boat to travel at a continuous pace of around 40 knots, an almost unheard of speed for a sail boat to be travelling at, so they'd be arriving in around three days.

Once they arrived at Degarashi Port, they would be escorted by a team from Konoha and would traverse the rest of the way on foot. It would be about a three to four day trip if they moved at a decent pace, and once they arrived in Konoha, there would be approximately one month left before the start of the Chūnin Exams, in which time they would become accustomed to their provisional team.

A spray of salty water from the ocean unpleasantly broke him out of his thoughts, so he decided to rather run up the main mast and sit atop the crow's nest to avoid any more unwanted surprises. His thoughts travelled back to this morning just before they'd left, as well as the goodbyes that he had shared with his makeshift family...

_(Flashback)_

_It was early in the morning, the sun still hiding behind the horizon as Naruto finished up the last bit of packing for his long journey to Hi no Kuni. His bag was fully packed with all the clothes he'd need, and he had made several storage scrolls for most of his supplies and weapons, everything he was hauling with him fitting snugly into his backpack._

_He had made sure to stock up on all of his ninja supplies; like shuriken and kunai; from the Academy, because anything he'd need when he arrived at Konoha would need to be bought, and he'd rather not spend all his money on weapons where it could rather be used for food and gifts for himself and people from Tsuki. _

_He walked over to his bed and retrieved his metal box with all his precious belongings from his birth, opening it up with the silver key and making sure everything was still where he'd left it. He pulled out the 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja' book from within, depositing that safely within his back pouch so that he could keep it close. He'd definitely be reading this book a few times when he was there, and he'd like to have something with him that could keep him occupied if the need ever arose. After retrieving the book, he took one last look at the photo of his mother before placing it on top of the pellet drum. He locked the box and placed it carefully back beneath his mattress, hiding the key back around his neck and in his shirt. _

_'Okay, now that that's taken care of; one last check to make sure I've got everything and I can head downstairs.' He grabbed the plain black bandana he used to wear off of his desk and tied it around his head, fastening it tightly and making sure to secure any stray bangs. Those things could really get in the way during a fight, but he liked his longer hair too much to cut it, so opted for the next best thing... restrain it. A lot easier said than done, but a bandana seemed to work, so he did just that. _

_After tying on the bandana, he picked up the hitai-ate he and Shūhei had received in advance due to their much earlier departure, and fastened it around his upper left bicep, making sure that the crescent moon symbol for Getsugakure was prominently displayed for all who met him to see. _

_The last two things lying on his desk were his custom made sash that was embroidered with the Hakke no Fūin Shiki, which he fastened tightly around his waist; and then his pair of trench knives, which he placed carefully into his back pouch before shouldering his backpack and heading out his door, switching off the lights behind him. 'Alright, we're just about done here. After we say goodbye, we'll be heading to Konohagakure no Sato. We've finally made it...'_

_He turned to his right and made his way down the stairs, catching Shūhei on the way down as they walked together to the bottom floor. They walked in amiable silence until they reached the massive oak doors of the castle that were on the bottom floor, Michiru-ojisan, Kakeru-ojiisan and Hikaru all waiting for them at the bottom. Even Korega-taichou had shown up. _

_Naruto and Shūhei walked up together, bright smiles on their faces as they stood before their farewell party. "Hey guys, you know you didn't need to wake up so early just to see lil 'ol me off to the Chūnin Exams," Naruto started with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to ease the apprehension that was lingering in the air. _

_All of the farewell party were more than a little afraid for the duo. They'd heard their fair share of stories that revolved around the Chūnin Exams, and not all of it was pretty. It was a glorified battle of shinobi, where neighbouring nations could freely attack other nations without the threat of repercussions looming over their heads. Many of the participants were out solely to spill the blood of supposed enemies who were attending this year's Chūnin Exams as well, so it was safe to say that they were all a little bit antsy for their adopted family members. _

_Kakeru was the first to speak, his visage etched in a soft smile as he looked on warmly at the two boys. "You two have grown up so much from the little boys I met in the market square that fateful day some five years ago. You've grown into fine young men, and I wish you luck during your exams," he said warmly, his voice laced with pride. "You are carrying the name of Tsuki on your shoulders, so do us proud."_

_Naruto and Shūhei both nodded at this with big grins in play. "Don't you worry about that Kakeru-ojiisan," said Shūhei quickly, extending his hand into a thumbs up. "We'll make Tsuki no Kuni proud, I can promise you that."_

_Naruto looked towards Shūhei with a degrading look in his eyes, wandering just what he thought he was doing. "Did you seriously just give a 'thumbs up'," he asked in shock, shaking his head in humiliation. "Don't be doing that shit-..."_

_"Language boys!" cut in Korega-taichou, causing Naruto's eyes to widen for a fraction of a second before his cheeks took on a red tinge and he sputtered slightly. _

_"I-I mean, don't do that stuff while we're away. It's not cool y'know," he muttered, averting his gaze from Korega's general direction. _

_Shūhei snorted at that and folded his arms with a mirthful look in his eyes. "Ha! Says the guy with a verbal tic. Practice what you preach, eh Naruto-baka," he said sarcastically, sniggering when Naruto's face tinted a deeper shade of red and his sputtering became more pronounced. _

_Michiru let out a hearty chuckle as he watched the exchange, his face a mask of brotherly love. He thought of these two younger boys as younger brothers who he needed to look out for, and looking at the two as they traded remarks back and forth in their usual banter, he couldn't help but feel reassured that they were going to be fine. "You must enjoy yourselves Naruto-kun, Shūhei-kun. Hi no Kuni is a beautiful country, so make the most of this visit. We'll be sure to come around and watch you in the final stages," he added with a knowing wink, a toothy grin playing on his lips as he pulled both boys in for a bone-crunching bear hug._

_"Ugh, M-Michiru-ojisan, I can't b-breathe..." gasped Naruto, taking in a massive breath of air as Michiru let go with a sheepish chuckle, holding his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. "Ah, that's better. And don't worry, we'll be looking for you in the stands on the day of the finals," he answered cockily, giving Shūhei a way-too-hard pat on the back that caused him to jolt forward and cough sporadically. "Right Shūhei?"_

_Shūhei just did his best attempt at an affirmative nod, holding his hand over his chest as the coughing fit racked his body. His coughing fit was miraculously put on hold though as the sounds of crying filled his ears, and he looked forward to see Hikaru's eyes filled with tears from where he was standing, clutching tightly onto the bow that had been given to him by Naruto and Shūhei for his last birthday. "Hey, Hikaru, what's the matter? We're not leaving for good you know," he said softly, his eyes a mirror of concern as he looked down fondly at the small little boy he could most probably call brother. _

_"I-It's just that... people get k-killed in the Chūnin Exams. They're so dangerous, and if you guys d-died I... I'd..." his explanation was cut off as another fit of sobs began to rack at his small body, more tears beginning to well up in his eyes, that massive inexplicable lump in the back of his throat making itself known. He felt two pairs of hands grab at his shoulders and he looked up through his fogged pair of glasses as Naruto and Shūhei kneeled before him, both with a hand on one of his shoulders respectively. _

_"Hey, there's no need to cry for us Hikaru," started Shūhei, putting on the most reassuring smile he could muster. _

_"Yeah, Shūhei's right," continued Naruto as he grinned foxily. "There's no way we're gonna die. That's not at all possible when we'll be the one's winning this thing," he stated confidently without a trace of deception or doubt in his voice. He looked earnestly into Hikaru's eyes and they softened as he spoke his next words. "I give you my word Hikaru. And I never go back on my word..."_

_Hikaru looked between Shūhei's and Naruto's faces, testing their expressions for any sign of deceit, before he threw himself forward and began crying tears of joy, his body shaking with sobs once again. "I-I'll hold you t-to that Naruto-niisan. I'll be cheering for you and Shūhei-niisan from in the s-stands, so make sure to look for me, okay."_

_"It's a promise Hikaru," said Shūhei, standing up and ruffling the boy's hair, Naruto standing up with him. They took a deep breath and turned back to face everyone as a guard appeared at the massive doors and announced the arrival of the crew and ship that they would be travelling on. "Looks like it's finally time."_

_Naruto and Shūhei gave one last wave to their makeshift family and proceeded off with the guard towards the harbour-side of town where the port was located. It wouldn't be long now, he remembered thinking, as they moved at a somewhat speedy pace to the docks. 'We'll see you soon, Hikaru...'_

_(Flashback End)_

Making himself comfortable atop the crow's nest, he reached into his back pouch and pulled out his all-time favourite book, 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'. He opened it at the beginning and proceeded to start reading it again. No matter how many times he reread the book, it never dulled at all, and it always managed to strike at his emotions each time he read it, because one; it was a gift from his parents and he was named after the hero of the book; and two, because the way the hero acted with such fierce determination at conquering the curse that was hatred was so inspiring, always managing to send goose bumps up and down his body without fail.

The book wasn't as well written as most other books, having been this author's first book, but it was the best book he'd ever had the pleasure of reading, and it would win in his books ten times out of ten. "So, what're you reading there?" questioned Shūhei from behind him, breaking him from his book and interrupting his quiet time.

Naruto didn't bother looking up and turned the page, his eyes continuing to roam along the words printed on the pages. "A book," he answered simply, ignoring the twitch of Shūhei's eyebrow as he narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"No shit Sherlock," he said sarcastically with a deadpan, deciding to rephrase the question this time. "I meant... what's the book about?"

Naruto once again turned the page and took his time answering, his eyes never leaving the white pages. "It's about the tales... of a gutsy ninja," he replied bluntly once again, flashing the cover at his friend quickly and causing Shūhei to sigh and throw his hands up in frustration.

"Ugh, just forget it. You're in one of your funny moods again, so I'll just leave you. Enjoy your book," he stated annoyingly as he jumped back down to the main deck, moving inside to the sleeping quarters to catch up on the sleep he missed by having to wake up so early that same morning. His grumbling could be heard from all the way inside the cabin, and it was music to Naruto's ears.

Naruto grinned playfully as he turned to the next page, taking great satisfaction in annoying the hell out of Shūhei. **_'As much as I'm loathe to admit and agree with that friend of yours, you are acting a little stranger than usual. Any particular reason why?'_** questioned Kurama curiously, rolling around in the grass that he loved so much.

'Heh, I could ask you the same thing fur ball,' retorted Naruto, smirking in amusement as he looked within his mind to the fox that was currently playing around in the meadow. Kurama just scoffed and continued with his activity, obviously not caring what a human thought. 'Well, if you must know, I'm just excited, and... I just didn't feel like telling Shūhei where this book came from. I'd rather just annoy him than lie to him,' he thought truthfully, the fox nodding its head at that. It was a book he'd found that was from his parents, and he didn't really want anyone to know that.

Naruto turned back down to his book and pulled out a trench knife from inside his pouch, twirling it absently around his finger as he continued to read his book. The sun was bearing down on him from above, with the cool wind of the sea blowing into him from ahead, counteracting the heat from the sun and creating the perfect balance. He couldn't wait to see what lay in store for him and Shūhei once they arrived at their destination. The anticipation was just too much for him to handle now.

* * *

_Cha no Kuni, Degarashi Port, three days later..._

* * *

Naruto awoke with a loud yawn, stretching his body out in all directions until the satisfying feeling of bones clicking rang true through his ears, eliciting a content sigh from the blonde Uzumaki. There was a considerable amount of hustle and bustle going on outside from what he could hear, and it felt like the boat had stopped moving. Had they finally made it?

He quickly threw on his sleeveless shirt and trousers, pulling on his shinobi sandals along with his bracer next. He attached his hitai-ate to his bicep and tied on his bandana, fixing on his sash right after that. Before he knew it, he was already repacked and ready to move, so he shot out of the room in a jog and made his way back to the main deck, breaking out into a wide smile as he reached the open air again. They had made it. They were in Degarashi Port.

It was a fairly small harbour for being the most well known port town in Cha no Kuni, but despite its size it looked like a reasonably nice place to stay. There was the main village up ahead and to the left, whereas a market that comprised of vendors each selling different kinds of food and items was to the right, adjacent to the docks that the ships would arrive at. People would probably buy the goods right off the boarding ships and then sell them at the markets, he surmised as the reason for having the market right next to the harbour.

There was a sizeable mountain towards the left of the village, and you could make out a few fields of produce a little ways to the back, the odd farmer tilling about within the land that was designated for agriculture. Turning his eyes back to the immediate area around the harbour, it looked like there was some kind of festival going on within the town at the moment, several long lines of multi-coloured streamers hanging about overhead from one building to the next.

There was a small stage set up a little further to the right, and Naruto curiously wondered what kind of celebration was taking place.

"Ah, I see you finally decided to wake up," came the voice of his long time friend Shūhei, dropping down from the mast above in front of Naruto and breaking him out of his thoughts. "That's a shame. I was just about to come give you the Shūhei-special wake up call," he finished cheekily, grinning from ear to ear at the prospect. Although he said he would wake Naruto up, truth be told... he wouldn't dare. The blonde's pranks were too much of a threat to keep him at bay. He'd learned his lesson, and made sure not to go too far when messing with his best friend.

Naruto grinned back and took a deep breath of this new air. It wasn't as salty as Tsuki's air, despite still being right next to the sea, but he could smell and taste the difference quite clearly. He turned to the brunette with an excited look on his face and pointed out towards the village. "So, do you know where we're supposed to be meeting these guys from Konoha," Naruto asked, ready to move on and to the village hosting this year's Chūnin Exams. He couldn't care less at the moment about what there was to experience in this country. Maybe on the way back, he had as an afterthought, but right now, he wanted to get to the Leaf Village.

"I'm not sure. Nami-sensei said that we were just supposed to disembark the ship and wait in the harbour. She said they'd find us," he replied with a casual shrug as he and Naruto walked off the boat and into the market area at a sedate pace.

"Okay, well you wait here then. I'm gonna go get us some breakfast." With that, Naruto leapt off into the crowd, disappearing from view as he searched for a suitable breakfast. Shūhei was surprised that he didn't need to wait longer than three minutes before Naruto had returned, a platter of six onigiri in his hand with the two canteens of fresh water in the other. "Here," he offered, handing Shūhei the bottle of water and setting the platter down as they took a seat on a couple of boxes lying around the port.

Shūhei took on a thoughtful look as he swallowed his last rice ball, staring at Naruto confusedly before that slowly morphed into irritation as he narrowed his eyes at the blond. "Hey, I was just thinking. How'd you pay for this stuff when I've got all the money?"

Naruto though pretended not to hear him and finished the last bite of his rice ball, deciding to change the subject instead. "So, do you know what these Konoha shinobi look like? Maybe we should go look for them around the town?" he pondered out loud, taking a sip of water and looking back at the boat they'd arrived in that was readying up to leave and move on to its next destination.

"Hey, don't try and change the subj-..." began Shūhei, only to be cut off midsentence as a figure slowly overshadowed the two, stopping in front of them with his hands on his hips.

"Well, you won't have to go looking very far," came a deep-ish voice from in front of them. The voice belonged to a man with long, spiky black hair who had black eyes and a goatee. He had a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose, and he wore the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi, complete with a flak jacket and a hitai-ate tied around his forehead with the Konoha symbol emblazoned on the metal. There were also two bladed weapons strapped to his back.

Another man landed next to him in the next instant, this one having brown hair that was combed down to cover his right eye. He wore his hitai-ate like a bandana, and wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit which went all the way up to his chin. "My name's Kamizuki Izumo, chūnin of Konohagakure, and this is my partner Hagane Kotetsu, also of chūnin rank," spoke the shinobi that had just landed, smiling down at the duo.

Naruto was the first to react, jumping to his feet and placing his hands behind his head in his usual manner. "Nice to meet you. My name's Naruto, genin of Getsugakure, and this is my partner, Shūhei, also of genin rank," Naruto mimicked with a wide grin on his face, introducing himself much in the same way Izumo had just introduced himself moments ago.

Kotetsu chuckled softly and grinned down at the two shinobi. "Well, now that introductions are over with, what do you guy's say we begin our journey? It's going to be about a three to four day trek at the most, but depending on how fast you guys can go, and for how long you can keep it up will determine if we reach Konoha sooner than we expect."

To be honest, the two Chūnin weren't expecting much from the two genin. Tsuki no Kuni was considered even less than one of the minor hidden villages for a reason; not counting the fact that they didn't even have a hidden village, but rather only an academy and administration building where missions were handed out; so to expect a pair of genin from Getsugakure to be able to keep up for too long was a bit of a push. 'We're most likely looking at a four day trip at the least,' Izumo deduced, trying to size up the two but finding nothing special about them.

Naruto jerked his thumb to his chest and gave the two Chūnin a confident grin, standing up a little straighter and puffing out his chest slightly. "Heh, don't worry about us, we'll be able to keep pace with you guys no problem. Well... if one of us ends up having a problem, it'll be my friend here. He's always had less stamina," he said as he pointed to Shūhei at his right with a cocky smirk.

Shūhei formed a tick on his forehead and his cheeks tinged the slightest shade of red, his fists balling at his sides as he fought to save some face in front of the two Chūnin. "You don't know what you're talking about Naruto! I'll be able to keep up just fine," he huffed indignantly, crossing his arms and turning away slightly to face in the opposite direction.

Naruto slowly turned towards Kotetsu with a smug grin and cupped his right hand over around his mouth, mouthing the words 'Not a chance' to the Chūnin, causing said Chūnin to chuckle softly, a few snickers escaping his own mouth.

Kotetsu reigned in his laughter and turned towards the bandana-clad boy with a wide grin in play as he regarded the genin from yonder. "You know whiskers, you're alright," he said with a chuckle, causing the now proclaimed 'whiskers' to grin even wider, exposing a few teeth.

Naruto held his fist out and shared a fist bump with the Chūnin, the two sharing an odd 'friendship' moment as Izumo watched from the sidelines impatiently with a tapping foot.

"If you two are quite finished," Izumo started, garnering the attention of the present shinobi as he plastered on a momentary mask of seriousness. "I think it's just about time we leave. We're on a schedule here, and I'd hate to run late and get chewed out by Sandaime-sama. Besides, we're burning day light, so when you two are set..." he gestured to the two genin and watched as they shouldered their respective back packs, both nodding their heads at the brown haired Chūnin. "All right then, stay on our heels as best you can."

With that, he shot to the roof tops of the buildings and took to the trees towards the direction of the Hi no Kuni and Cha no Kuni border, setting a mild pace as they hopped from tree to tree. They stayed at this pace for a while before the loud voice of the bandana-wearing genin reached their ears, getting the two Chūnin to turn around.

"Hey, don't hold back on our account. I meant it when we said we'd be able to keep up, so if this is as fast as you're planning to go, then maybe we should set the pace," he asked with a shit-eating grin, Naruto's teeth glinting in the thin rays of sun that pierced through the somewhat thick canopy of leaves above.

Kotetsu grinned despite the tacit insult that was veiled in that sentence. 'The kid's got balls, I'll give him that.' He turned his head to glance at his partner and gave him nod with a smirk firmly set on his features. "What do you say Izumo?"

Izumo smirked despite himself as well, not usually one to play into the hands of a teenager. "Cheeky brat. Alright Kotetsu, let's kick it up notch then." With the command given, they set off at a faster pace, darting through the trees at the behest of the genin they were charged with escorting. 'Careful what you wish for...' Izumo thought sadistically, an evil smile tugging at his lips as they bounded on forward at a swifter speed. He'd show that brat who he was taunting here.

XxX

The sun was slowly setting, its arc almost completed as it neared the horizon in the distance. The sky was a beautiful orange with a few wisps of yellow thrown in between, and the clouds looked as if they'd been stretched out as far as they could go by some other-worldly force. It looked like something out of a fairy tale.

In a clearing not too far passed the border of Hi no Kuni and Cha no Kuni, the forms of one Chūnin Hagane Kotetsu and genin Uzumaki Naruto landed with a soft thud, the former looking no more worse for wear than usual while the latter was breathing noticeably more heavy than before, with several trails of sweat rolling down his forehead.

They had been running for pretty much the whole day, with only several 15 minute breaks in between which they used to course correct and to rehydrate themselves. All in all it had been a pretty tiresome day if the genin had to admit, but his stubbornness prevented him from entertaining that thought too much.

Kotetsu regarded the genin who was standing with his hands on his knees, smiling down at him with a new found respect as he pulled out a canteen of water and placed it in whisker-faced genin's hands. "I gotta hand it to you kid. You weren't messing around when you said you'd be able to keep up with us," he said with a deep level of respect, admiring the young genin's determination.

There had been times when he looked as if he would start slowing down, when he looked as though exhaustion had finally caught up to him; but just as he'd boasted, he had been able to stick to their heels at the ridiculously fast speed that they'd set, something the Chūnin would never have guessed a genin would be able to keep up with. A genin from Getsugakure no less.

Naruto took the offered canteen and brought the bottle to his lips, relishing in the rejuvenating feeling of the ice cold water running down the back of his dry throat soothingly. He wiped his mouth clean of any spillage and gave an audible sigh of contentment, screwing the lid back on and handing it back to his escort. "Thanks Kotetsu. I really needed that," he added gratefully, taking in one last breath as his breathing finally returned to its normal rhythm. "And didn't I tell you I'd be able to keep up." His grin was as wide as ever, displaying his teeth before they disappeared behind the devious smirk that formed on his face as his eyes glanced back to the direction they were coming from. "And didn't I tell you that my friend wouldn't. Ah, Shūhei, always trying to prove a point to someone," he said wistfully, turning his head to look in the direction where the last two of their quartet were still making their way.

Kotetsu looked at the whiskered genin with a fond smile as they both glanced back in their respective partners' direction. "You two must've known each other for a while then, huh?"

Naruto nodded slowly and spied the black haired Chūnin out of the corner of his eye as he flopped down onto the ground and shrugged off his backpack. "Heh, yeah, we grew up together, and we've been best friends ever since. I could say the same about you and Izumo as well," he retorted with a smile, lying on the ground and staring up at the sky with his hands behind his head.

Kotetsu mirrored the blonde's soft expression and shrugged off his own backpack, taking a seat on a stray log that was lying in the middle of the clearing. "Yeah, I can't even remember a time when Izumo and I weren't together... we're partners for life, and nothing's ever going to change that."

They sat in a comfortable silence for a little longer before the final two members of their makeshift squad landed in the clearing with an ungraceful thump, Shūhei's left arm slung over Izumo's shoulders exhaustedly. Izumo's face was contorted into exhaustion as the strain of supporting the boy for as far a distance as he had was finally becoming too much for him.

Seeing his handler's drained form and the bordering unconscious look that Shūhei held, Naruto leapt over to lend a hand and took the unnecessary weight off of Izumo's shoulder. The brown haired Chūnin breathed out a thank you as he dragged himself to the log his best friend was sitting on, dropping himself unceremoniously beside the black haired Kotetsu.

Naruto softly placed Shūhei on the ground and pulled out a scroll from his best friend's back pack, unsealing his futon and rolling it out properly along the floor. After he moved his best friend onto his sleeping mat, he too plopped himself beside the two Chūnin, a much more energetic look marring his face though. "So, I don't really think I need to ask, but do you guys mind if I go get us started on some fire wood?"

Both chūnins looked to each other and gave him a nod in the affirmative. "Yeah, sure Naruto. We'll set up a small perimeter this side so long, so you head off and look in that direction." Naruto nodded and dashed off into the forest, leaving the two Chūnin alone for a while. Izumo turned back to make sure that the other genin was still sleeping before he turned to Kotetsu with a questioning gaze. "So, what do you make of him Kotetsu? He's not like any other genin I've ever seen from Tsuki no Kuni. He managed to keep up with you all the way here. Albeit he was a little winded, but still... it's quite surprising."

Kotetsu nodded in affirmation but his previous smile never left his face. "He's definitely an odd one that Naruto. But he's a good kid. The both of them are. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what they're capable of when the Chūnin Exams eventually begin. There's gonna be some tough competition out there this time round..."

Izumo nodded sagely and stretched his arms out slightly, trying in vain to relieve some of the lingering pain of having to carry Shūhei for as long as he did. "Well, anyways, you head out first and do a sweep of the perimeter. It's unlikely that we'll encounter any enemy ninja on this trip, but better safe than sorry."

Kotetsu nodded and jumped into the trees going in the opposite direction Naruto had gone earlier. Izumo was only left alone in the clearing for a couple of minutes before the blonde-haired genin strolled back in with his arms piled full of wood. With a quick-fix fire pit set up, and a Katon **(Fire Release)** jutsu later courtesy of Kotetsu, night had finally fallen and all four of the ninja were lying around the fire in their respective futon, Izumo begrudgingly getting ready to go and take the first watch while the others sat cosily around the fire.

"Are you guys sure you don't want me to take a watch?" repeated Naruto as he pushed himself up in his futon and glanced between the two Chūnin as the orange light from the fire flickered across their faces, casting shadows in all directions. The fire gave a loud crackle and sent a few cinders flying into the air before they fluttered back to the ground and faded into the darkness. "I mean, I've got plenty of energy, and I really wouldn't mind."

Kotetsu looked at Naruto regretfully and scratched the back of his head guiltily. "Look, Naruto, don't take this the wrong way, but because you are from another village and we are the supervisors, we are being held responsible, so it's not that we don't want you to take a watch..."

"... it's that you can't?" Naruto finished with an understanding look making its way onto his face. "Forget I asked then. I understand completely," he replied with a smile, turning around and laying his head down atop his small makeshift pillow. "Well, I'll see you guys in the morning then." He closed his eyes and in record time, his soft snores were filling the clearing, causing the Chūnin to shake their heads at his extremely care free nature. It was almost criminal how easily he was able to hit the sack and nod off for the night while in the middle of the forest, the possibility of enemy shinobi attacking always looming.

"Lucky bastard..." Izumo muttered to himself, grumbling all the way out of his futon and up onto a tree branch to prepare for first watch. He really wanted to go and sleep now. More than anything after having had to carry that lazy genin for the last few kilometres, and after seeing how comfortable the genin and Kotetsu looked in their beds around the warm fire... he felt he deserved a little reprieve. That was not to be however, and he settled in for the long haul. 'Ugh. It's going to be a long night...'

* * *

_**Jutsu List:**_

* * *

_Fūton: Shunshin __**(Wind Release: Body Flicker)**_

The **Wind Release: Body Flicker**, like the ordinary Body Flicker, vitalises the uses body with their chakra to allow them to travel at extreme speeds. However, the difference here is that Wind Release chakra is used, which has varied effects on the user's body. For one, the constant output of Wind Release chakra drastically decreases the weight (not mass) of the body, allowing the user to travel at speeds far greater than the average Body Flicker. The coat of Wind Release chakra worn around the body also causes after images of the user to be left behind, due to the fact that as the user moves, the residual Wind Release chakra that was coated around the body remains behind for a few seconds before dissipating with a small wisp of air. These are its only known uses so far, and depending on the user's mastery over Wind Release, the effects could change drastically.

* * *

_**AN: So, Naruto and Shūhei finally leave Tsuki for their trip to Konoha, where the Chūnin Exams will begin within the next month and a bit. I foretell that hings are going to start getting interseting... ;)**_

_**Any ways, with regards to writing Kotetsu and Izumo, there isn't much fanfic written about them, and they don't have too much screen time in the anime, so I tried my best to keep them in character. I felt I did an all right job, but if there's anyway I can improve with them, let me know. I'd like to write them properly, if that makes any sense whatsoever xD**_

_**Well, that's a wrap, so I'll see you guys next chapter, till next time...**_


	6. Arrival

**_AN: Hey guys, back again with the next instalment, chapter 6, so I won't keep you waiting. Please, continue on to the story..._**

**_Edit: (On a sidenote, for those who were reading this story since I started it, back with the old, longer chapters, you guys will have read this chapter, so read it again if you want to, but otherwise, you guys will start from the next chapter again.)_**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 6: Arrival_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Approaching the gates of Konohagakure, two days later..._

* * *

The sun was sitting right in the middle of the cloudless blue sky, a rarity that would definitely have one Nara Shikamaru groaning in dissatisfaction at the predicament that would arise from such a phenomenon. The faces of the previous Hokage were all bathing in the warm sun light that was warming their stony faces as they watched out over their village that they had all been enlisted to protect at one point or another.

From a distance quite a ways away from the village itself, the heads of the Hokage were only now starting to peer their heads over the horizon, the quartet of shinobi that consisted of the Chūnin from Konoha and the genin from Tsuki only now being able to make out the feint out lines of the village walls and the top of the Hokage monument.

Naruto's face was set into a wide grin as he regarded the stone faces from their position on the road as they moved ever closer to the village. "Woah..." Naruto finally breathed in awe, his eyes widening slightly as the entirety of their faces finally came fully into view. "I've only ever read about the famed Hokage monument, but seeing it in person doesn't even compare..."

Shūhei just nodded along with him, his mouth slightly ajar as he regarded the monument with the same level of wonderment as his blonde haired partner. "No kidding..."

Trailing slightly behind the two to make sure that they didn't move at a snail's speed while gawking at the monument, Izumo and Kotetsu couldn't help but grin at their expressions. Although they'd seen that same look on hundreds upon hundreds of foreigners as they walked through the gates of their village; being the gate guards that they were; it was a lot more satisfying when you knew the two who were doing the gawking.

"Hey, if you guys don't stop that you're gonna start catching flies," stated Izumo with a disgusted frown marring his features. "And as funny as that would be, it's really unhygienic." Izumo's body gave an involuntary shudder just thinking about the germs that flies carries, the aforementioned insects constantly bathing themselves in their mucus. He shuddered again and immediately cut off that train of thought.

Kotetsu had no such reservations to try and help the foreign genin and openly laughed as they continued on towards the gate, holding his side to try and sooth some of the hilarious pain. "I wonder what their reaction would be if they got to see the Final Valley?" he questioned amusedly, tilting his head to glance at his friend.

That seemed to snap Naruto out of his daze and he turned around with eyes widened even further than before. "You mean the valley that was created after the legendary battle between the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara? No way..." he breathed out with excitement again, his anticipation bubbling through at the seams. "We **_definitely_** have to take a trip that way Shūhei. At least once before we go back to Tsuki."

Shūhei however was still firmly fixated on the Hokage Monument, his eyes glued squarely to the face of the Nidaime Hokage Senju Tobirama. He was his idol after all, and he was about to step into the very village he had led, the very village where he became a fearsome leader that was admired by his villagers and feared by opposing villages. His innate ability with Suiton was so phenomenally advanced, it was incomprehensible. This was Shūhei's goal. His lifelong dream that he was going to achieve no matter how long it took him. 'I'm going to surpass the Nidaime Hokage's ability to wield Suiton. One day-...'

Naruto finally managed to snap his best friend from his thoughts, concentrating a small amount of wind chakra onto the tip of his finger and flicking it into Shūhei's face, a surprisingly large amount of force behind it as it threw his brunette friend off his balance for second and sent him crashing to the ground. 'Huh, that was actually pretty cool. I'll have to file that away for later.' With his friend's attention now firmly fixed back on him, albeit he was slightly pissed, Naruto just gestured with his head in front of him, getting Shūhei to turn and realise that they were finally at Konoha.

They were standing on the threshold of the village, right on the area where the massive gates would be closed at night. Naruto craned his neck and tried to see as much as he could from their spot, but the few buildings that surrounded the entrance didn't leave much to the imagination. He could see several stores already though, consisting of clothes shops and food stands, which were all bustling with activity. The streets were generously covered in a blanket of shuffling civilians, all with a destination in mind as they moved on to continue with their daily activities.

Everyone here had smiles and friendly expressions adorning their faces as they went along their merry ways. Now, that's not to say that the people of Tsuki no Kuni didn't, because they were also a very friendly people. The people from Konoha just seemed inherently happy, and it was a somewhat warming sight. It was a place he thought that he could definitely feel at home. If only he knew...

"So, I'm afraid to say that this is where we part ways," began Kotetsu as he marched back to the group after having gone to fetch a brown envelope from behind the desk at the front gate. A desk which he could proudly call his own. He handed over the envelope and gave them both a smile. "You guys have the rest of the day off, so go do a little bit of sightseeing. Take some time to read the contents of that envelope though. It'll give you all the info you need to get where you need to be tomorrow."

Naruto accepted the brown package and handed it over to Shūhei, happy to admit that his brunette friend was definitely the more responsible one. "I don't suppose you guys would be free at the moment for a tour of your lovely village," Naruto questioned half heartedly, sighing in disappointment at the shake of their heads. He screwed a bittersweet smile onto his face though and held his fist out to the black haired Chūnin; a smile that was truly genuine. "It was great to meet you Kotetsu, Izumo. I really hope to see you guys again sometime."

Kotetsu mimicked the blonde's grin and connected the fist bump with his own, nodding his head in agreement. "Likewise. We are the official gate keepers of the village by the way, so don't be strangers."

Naruto nodded and said his goodbyes to Izumo as well, the rest of the group exchanging a round of curt nods before the Chūnin departed to go and report their mission completion to the Hokage, while the genin turned around and stared off into the mass of civilians. "Well, we've still got a whole day to do a little bit of sightseeing. What do you wanna do first?"

Shūhei turned to his friend and opened his mouth to utter his reply, but his obviously-hungry stomach beat him to the punch with a grumble and decided for him as he looked away in embarrassment. "I guess we should go and look for some food first off." Shūhei almost instantly regretted the mention of food, as the grin that formed on Naruto's face brought with it the promise of a food that he didn't really enjoy. A food Naruto could seemingly inhale as if his life depended on the consumption of it. A food that Naruto would always choose above any other if he was given the choice... Ramen.

"I know just where to go. Kotetsu did say something about the Leaf Village having the best ramen in the elemental nations. Let's go test that theory..."

XxX

After asking around and getting a few directions from wandering civilians, Naruto and Shūhei eventually found themselves standing outside a pretty unassuming ramen stand. It was a fairly small stand, nothing too special about it, but nothing overly terrible about it either. It had a lantern hanging out front, with the name of the restaurant printed on the flaps that hung from the roof. Naruto turned to Shūhei and with both sharing a casual shrug, they ducked under the flaps and plopped themselves on one of the cushioned seats.

"Man, these chairs are really comfortable," muttered Naruto as he took in the inside of the shop. It was a lot more lively inside the shop, with a lot more colour being displayed all around in the forms of small pictures of spots around the elemental nations. The stand was empty though, not a single other customer sitting down at one of the stools, so the old man who was casually chatting with his brown haired colleague behind the desk turned to the two genin and gave them a warm smile.

"Well hello there. Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen. What can I get you young gentlemen?" asked the old man kindly as he leaned against the counter top, his eyes closed as he smiled at the genin.

Naruto, being the ever eager ramen eater, spoke up first with much enthusiasm, placing the small menu down in front of the old man. "I've heard that this is the best ramen stand in the elemental nations, so to start with, I'll have one of each of your ramen dishes."

The old man's smile seemed to shine a little brighter and he chuckled lightly at the young boy's bright nature. It was a little infectious. "Well, I wouldn't know about the best stand in the elemental nations, but we do alright. You heard him Ayame-chan, one of each please." She replied with a quick 'Hai' before turning back to the stoves and getting to work. The old man turned to the brown haired boy and gave him the same warm smile, gesturing him to give his order.

"I'll just have one bowl of assari shio ramen please," Shūhei answered politely, placing his menu down on top of Naruto's. The old man's smile didn't falter and he assured them that their meals would be right up as he turned around and went to work on their meals himself.

Shūhei nodded thankfully and curiously opened up the envelope they had been given, the first thing he fished out being two village passes which they would need to keep on their person's at all time in case they were approached by other Konoha shinobi. It would be suspicious enough to have foreign shinobi lounging around in your village, so the passes were definitely a must to make sure that other Konoha shinobi knew that they were in fact permitted to be in the village. 'Nevertheless, our arrival should have already been communicated to the other shinobi of this village, and the Chūnin Exams are coming up soon, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle,' Shūhei reasoned as he inspected the plain blue arm bands that were emblazoned with the symbol of the Leaf Village.

With that being said, he carefully slipped his onto his wrist and handed the other to Naruto. "Take this and don't lose it, and make sure to keep it on you at all times. This is a pass that denotes our stay in this village, so please, for the love of-..." He cut himself off and frowned angrily at Naruto, giving him a tap upside the head as he glared irritably at his blonde friend. "Are you even listening to me?!"

Naruto turned his head to the right with a somewhat slack jaw and absently wiped at his mouth, clearing it of the saliva that was seeping out as he watched the chef plate the various dishes of ramen. "Yeah yeah, keep the passes on us at all times; denotes our stay, blah blah; I got it," he said in understanding, pulling off the black bandana from his head as he got ready to eat the food that the old man and his employee were almost done with, as well as slipping on his own blue band around his right wrist.

Shūhei dragged his hand across his face in exasperation and just turned forward in his seat again, closing the envelope and deciding to sort through it later. Doing it with Naruto inside a ramen stand was never going to work. He was way too distracted. "Honestly, I don't know why I even bothe-..."

He was cut off as a loud gasp and the sounds of a smashing dish reached his ears, immediately tensing as his mind started racing through possible escape routes before he realised that the owner had just dropped a bowl. The looking for a possible escape route being an old habit that the homeless side of him just couldn't curb. "Are you alright, uh..." Come to think of it, they never got the old man's name yet.

The old man was standing frozen behind the counter, his eyes fixed on the spiky blonde hair and cerulean blue eyes of the one boy that reminded him all too much of someone who was extremely important to this village, having died not too long ago. But it couldn't be his son, could it, the old man thought? He had heard that he was going to be a father, but this boy here was from Tsuki no Kuni if his hitai-ate around his arm was anything to go by. But they looked so similar it was almost like looking in a mirror.

He focused back in on the situation though and turned to the brown haired boy, giving him a sheepish smile. "I-I apologise, I just mistook you for someone I used to know. I'll get this bowl fixed right up for you." He turned around and went back to preparing the noodles, this time a little more subdued than before, but still with the same smile plastered on his face. "And my name's Teuchi by the way," he answered over his back, not tearing his eyes away from the food so that he could try and understand that this boy couldn't possibly be who he thought it was.

"And this is my daughter, Ayame." The now named Ayame just gave them a sweet smile and a small wave as she fetched a small broom and dust pan and cleaned up the remnants of the broken bowl. With his part being said, he focused solely on preparing the noodles and remained quiet for the rest of the time they were there.

XxX

Naruto and Shūhei walked slowly up the massive flight of stairs that continued to snake alongside the mountain face as they trekked up to the top of the Hokage Monument. Naruto walked with his hands behind his head, a true sign that the meal they had just shared was well worth it. He let out a content sigh as he patted his stomach in satisfaction and allowed a pleased grin to stretch across his face. "Man... Kotetsu sure didn't disappoint. That was by far... the **_best_** ramen I've **_ever_** had."

Shūhei fiddled with band around his wrist as he listened to his best friend, a small smile on his face as well. "I must admit, I never thought I'd enjoy that ramen as much as I did. Good call Naruto." Seeing his friend beam at him, he looked forward again but let a cheeky grin form on his face. "But next time I get to choose the restaurant."

Naruto's face fell and he slumped his arms, about to retort when he decided against it. His eyes took on an awed gleam as he realised that they had finally reached the top, and he stared out over the entirety of Konohagakure.

From the vantage point they had at the top of the mountain, they could see the village from corner to corner, and from where they were standing, it was pretty impressive. The colours that made up all the walls of the buildings and roofs blended together in a weird way that oddly suited the village and gave it a very homey feel. It felt strangely nostalgic, but the he couldn't place that nagging feeling as he just absorbed the scenery.

Naruto looked over to his friend and plopped himself down on the small patch of grass that was located at the top, leaning up against his back pack and staring up at the sky that was now generously covered in clouds. "I think I'm just gonna sit here for the rest of the day Shūhei, you can carry on with the tour."

Shūhei just gave his friend a look that asked if he was sure, to which Naruto just gave a silent nod and turned his eyes skyward. Shūhei just shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the stairs. "I'll see you later then. Meet back here at sunset, or... just don't go anywhere." With a meeting place set, he trodded down the stairs and left Naruto to his thoughts.

With Shūhei gone, Naruto just closed his eyes and just felt the wind as it passed him over, ruffling the small tufts of his hair that were hanging out the side of his bandana. 'You've been strangely quiet since we arrived at Konoha Kurama. What's on your mind?'

Kurama had been awake the entire time, just lying in his jinchūriki's mindscape as he let his thoughts mull around in his mind. **_'Nothing you need worry your puny little head about gaki, just some sour memories...'_** This place was where he had met **_that_** man. No, met was too nice. This was where he was forcefully controlled like a puppet, by the man who he had despised above all else. Uchiha Madara. That man with his repugnant sharingan eyes and a chakra more ominous than his own. He was a mother fucker all right, and that had sparked Kurama's development of hatred for the human race, but particularly the Uchihas.

But it had turned around somewhat when he was sealed for the first time into the Shodai Hokage's wife Uzumaki Mito. It didn't end up being as terrible as he thought it would, but his hatred for humans didn't dwindle. The woman wouldn't interact much, if at all, and back in that time, Kurama was just fine with that. He didn't want to have anything to do with her. It was all fine until he was forcefully ripped out of his next jinchuuriki by another Uchiha, not Madara this time but one with eyes just as evil.

Kurama's hatred grew to new levels that day, and after being sealed into Naruto he had suspected that his life was just going to repeat itself again. He would eventually be ripped out again by that same Uchiha with the swirl mask, and he would be controlled once again. But those thoughts had all been squashed when he realised that he was thought to be dead and his and his jinchūriki's whereabouts were unknown by anyone who could really affect his life. And his life had turned around after that, and very much for the better.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the small jab to his intelligence again and just opened his eyes to stare at the clouds. 'If you say so Kurama. Just remember that I'm never too far away...'

Said fox just nodded his head and decided to get some shut eye. All this thinking was making him tired, and he wanted a little break from his reminders of oppression from all those years ago. So that's what he planned to do.

Naruto's ears perked up at the sound of approaching footsteps and his eyes never left the clouds, but his body readied itself for a quick escape, spotting the rock ahead of him as a quick substitution. If somebody wanted to sneak up on him though they would've been able to attack him already, so he wasn't too worried.

"I never see people come up here just to look at the clouds," a voice spoke as the sound of footsteps stopped a small distance away from Naruto.

Naruto didn't tear his eyes away from the clouds and let a small smile form on his face. "They just have such a calming way about them, and it's oddly relaxing. Most people usually just take the clouds for granted, never really taking notice of them as they aimlessly pass by through the sky."

The other person was silent for a second before a chuckle was heard and he walked a little closer, taking a spot on the other side of Naruto and lying down as well. "You know, some people like to mock me for just lying on the ground and staring up at the clouds. Some people just don't know how to appreciate a good cloud though."

Naruto let out a soft chuckle as well as he continued to stare at the floating white masses. "Aint that the truth." He finally glanced to his right and took in the form of his visitor. It was a boy who looked to be about his age. He wore a somewhat lazy expression with a smile and had shoulder length black hair that was tied up into a spiky pony tail. He had narrow brown eyes and wore a pair of silver hoop earrings. He was wearing a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeved grey jacket with green sleeves and his hitai-ate around his left arm, similar to Naruto's. Naruto held out his left fist to the new comer and gave him a grin. "I'm Naruto by the way... Uzumaki Naruto."

The spiky haired boy eyed the fist for a couple of seconds before he threw out his right hand and bumped Naruto's fist. "Nara Shikamaru, nice to meet you." The now named Shikamaru turned back to the sky and watched as a small cloud flittered by overhead. "I couldn't help but notice you're from Getsugakure, so that must mean you're either here on a mission; which is highly unlikely considering Tsuki no Kuni doesn't have too many shinobi to spare, and I've never seen one here before; so you must be here for the upcoming Chūnin Exams."

Naruto's grin widened and he tilted his head to look at the Nara out of the corner of his eye. They had studied up on the different well known clans from the hidden villages, and the Nara Clan was extremely well known for their intelligence and their shadow based manipulation jutsu. "Hehe, you're definitely a Nara, that's for sure. You didn't miss a beat. You're right; I am here for the Chūnin Exams. What about you, are you taking part?"

Shikamaru sighed as he watched another cloud going by, rubbing a hand over his face as he thought long and hard about the question. "At the moment, no. But my sensei has been talking about it with the other rookie sensei, and I guarantee it's only a matter of time before he starts pushing. And when that happens, I'll have no choice. Especially if my crazy-woman of a mom gets involved. It's gonna be such a drag..."

Naruto laughed and he laughed hard, propping himself up on his elbows as he looked over the village again. "Well, whether or not you're entering the Chūnin Exams, I'm going to be in the village for a while, so I'm sure I'll definitely see you around again." He leaned back onto the ground and placed his hands behind his head, turning his eyes to the snow white clouds once more. "But for now, let's just..."

Shikamaru smirked as Naruto trailed off and he looked at the blonde one more time before looking back up at the sky, circling his hands around his head as he leaned on his back. "Yeah, let's ..."

* * *

_Konohagakure, Training Ground 3, the next morning..._

* * *

It was early morning in the training ground that they were supposed to be meeting their substitute sensei and teammate at. The sun was barely up and it was still fairly dark in the clearing that made up the majority of the training ground. Off to the right was a cenotaph that was strangely reminiscent of a sort of kunai, and it had many names of fallen Konoha shinobi engraved on it. In the centre of the clearing were three training posts, and off to the far left was a river that ran alongside the training ground. It seemed to have everything that a team would need when training.

After having had his fun yesterday, Shūhei had eventually come back to the top of the Hokage Monument to find Naruto still staring up at the sky. Except his eyes were closed. And he was snoring. Oh, how he had enjoyed waking up the blonde with a nice foot to the stomach. There was nothing like it. Anyways, after he and Naruto had once again started moving as a pair, they quickly searched the envelope to find out where they were supposed to stay and made their way over to a small and quaint little apartment building.

It wasn't anything fancy, and it was only a few ticks shy of being considered a complete dump, but it turned out to be just what they needed. It had two single beds in the main room with a bathroom that had a shower and a small kitchen that only contained the essentials. This would be their home away from home for the remainder of their stay here, so they'd need to go grocery shopping soon, they quickly reminded themselves.

Once they got settled though, they quickly went through the rest of the envelope and found that they were to meet in Training Ground 3 the next morning where they would be meeting the rest of their team. They'd left early just to make sure that they didn't run late in case they couldn't find it, but it managed to be the first training ground they looked at, so they were a tad early. "Well, I'm going to go lean against that training post and read," Naruto stated bluntly to Shūhei, walking over to the post and plopping himself down against the wood of the pole.

"You go do that," muttered Shūhei as he walked over to the river and sat down alongside it, noting that it was extremely calm at the moment and barely moving at all. He placed his right hand over the water and slowly started waving just above the water's surface, using his water manipulation to control the water underneath his hand to a certain extent. Every so often he'd lift his hand a little and create a little bubble of water as the liquid followed his hand up, creating long pillars of water that moved along with his fingers and swirling them around to create a small little whirlpool.

Naruto leaned his back against the post and pulled out the 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja', fishing out one of his trench knives at the same time. He opened the book to his last bookmark and continued reading, twirling the blade in his free right hand absently as he channelled wind chakra through it, a small fan like breeze being created from the rotating motion.

They stayed like that for a while, Naruto managing to get through quite a few pages before their solitude was finally interrupted as a new face made its way into the clearing. She had light blonde hair that was tied up in a loose ponytail with occasional strands sticking out, and she was wearing a sleeveless red battle dress with the mesh T-shirt from underneath sticking out at her sleeves. She had a pair of black shorts underneath the battle dress, and her hitai-ate was worn around her waist backwards like a sash. Her most notable feature however was the small pair of swirl tinted glass that were covering her eyes, and although they looked a little odd, they seemed to fit with the whole look the girl was wearing.

She stopped in front of Naruto and he immediately jumped to his feet, placing his trench knife in his book as an impromptu bookmark and giving the girl a wide grin. "Hey there, are you the third team mate that's supposed to be part of the substitute team?"

The girl meekly nodded her head and pushed her glasses up with the tip of her finger. "T-That is correct. My name is Shiho, and I will also be a part of this team for the Chūnin Exams."

Naruto's grin seemed to get wider as the girl identified herself, and he extended his hand in a fist. "Nice to meet you. My name's Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Getsugakure, this year's Chūnin Exams champion to-be, as well as the most unpredictable ninja of Tsuki," he relayed with an unnatural amount of zealousness and pride, slightly unnerving the girl who he'd just met.

She took a tentative step back and readjusted her glasses again, blinking a few times behind them as she regarded this blonde haired boy with a bandana whose fist was still extended. Naruto looked at her expectantly with his fist still waiting, and then looked down at his fist before looking up at her again. She stared down at his fist and slowly raised her own hand. 'Does he want me too...?' She trailed off though once she saw his smile widening, and she meekly placed her fist against his, completing the gesture. 'Well, he's certainly not lacking in enthusiasm, that's for sure.' She noticed the other brown haired boy was now making his way over as the whiskered-blonde left, a slightly embarrassed look marring his face.

He approached her and stopped a few feet away from her, leaning in close with a tired edge to his voice as he spoke. "I apologise for my 'brother's' **_exuberant_** nature," he whispered wearily, both watching as Naruto jumped up onto the middle training post with his hands on his hips and took in a giant breath of fresh air, turning around to face Shūhei and Shiho.

"Hey, Shūhei, isn't the fresh air here just so wonderful this morning?!" he shouted loudly, jumping into the air and landing back on the pole in a show of acrobatics.

Shūhei just palmed his forehead and looked back at the girl beside him with a small amount of shame. "He's... adopted and... I imagine he was dropped as a child... several times... and a few more times after that... I also think he does this on purpose just to embarrass me." The girl just put a hand in front of her mouth and tried in vain to stifle her giggles, watching the blonde jump around acrobatically with a seemingly endless amount of energy. "I'm Shūhei by the way."

"Hehe, uh-hem, nice to meet you. I'm Shiho. And honestly, I don't mind it at all," Shiho said, continuing to watch as the blonde leapt into a nearby tree, disappearing from view as the whole clearing went eerily quiet for several seconds. Then, in a flash, several birds flew out from the top of the tree, a trail of feathers and leaves trailing behind them as Naruto shot out after them, gravity unfortunately pulling him back down to earth as he watched them fly away. "It's a welcome change from the boring life I usually live."

Shūhei gave her a furtive glance before settling with continuing to watch his blonde friend. "So, I don't mean to pry, but how long have you been a shinobi?" he asked casually as he turned to look at the girl who was seemingly mesmerised by the energy the blonde was emitting. He would admit that Naruto's attitude was infectious, but after having known him for as long as he had, the effect it had seemed to wane. "You look a little older than both me and Naruto, and if I had to venture a guess, I'd say you're about 14, meaning you graduated last year."

She turned to look at him with an impressed look on her face and gave him an affirmative nod. "You are correct. I graduated last year from the academy, but unfortunately I failed my genin exam," she started off evenly, and seeing that Shūhei was about to interrupt her to ask about how she could be here if she had failed, she held up a hand to silence him so that she could continue.

"After failing, I was drafted into the Konoha Cryptanalysis Team by the head of the division, and he's been training me ever since." She looked away with a fond expression, the memories of her time as a cryptographer-in-training sending her on a trip down memory lane. "Obviously I was trained in the actual shinobi arts, but my main training was as that of a cryptographer."

She looked down almost ashamedly, fiddling with her fingers as she thought about the next thing she wanted to say. "To be perfectly honest, I much prefer to be here in Konoha, behind the lines as a cryptographer. I was never much of a fighter, so being apprenticed by my taichou was probably the best thing that could have happened to me as a shinobi."

Shūhei looked thoughtful for a second before something he had been thinking about a few seconds ago made itself known once more. "If you're not much of a fighter, then why are you participating in the Chūnin Exams?"

Shiho looked down at her fingers again, struggling to maintain eye contact any further. "Before I complete my training as a cryptographer, I need to be at least Chūnin level or higher, and taichou wanted me to get some field experience before just promoting me instead. So this was his idea, but..." she fiddled with her fingers a little more and bit her bottom lip nervously, her entire mood doing a 180 as she started sniffling softly. "... but, I'm really scared."

Shūhei just widened his eyes as the girl beside him started to cry, albeit very softly, but crying nevertheless. He wasn't sure whether to console the girl or whether he should give her a hug. He'd never had this happen to him before. He held his hand above her back for a few seconds, having a silent debate with himself whether he should pat her back or not. In the end, he settled for a very awkward back rub, the girl leaning into his hand as he rubbed her mechanically.

"H-Hey Shiho-san, don't cry. Uh, Naruto and I will protect you. We're pretty strong, so you've got nothing to worry about." Her eyes turned to his for a second, her glasses concealing her orbs as he felt like she was burning a hole through his head under her intense gaze. "R-really, we won't let anything happen to you."

Shiho looked a bit sceptical at first. I mean, it was no secret that Getsugakure was not known for its outstanding ninja, so as she listened to him try and assuage her feelings on the matter, she wasn't too sure how to react. Nevertheless, even with the slightly confused look his face had taken, she could see that he was telling no word of lie; call it a women's intuition; so she just wiped at her eyes under her spectacles and gave him a grateful smile, the proverbial rain cloud that was hanging over her head now completely gone. "Thank you Shūhei-san. I really appreciate it."

Shūhei just nodded dumbly, the girl that was not even a second ago crying in front of him seeming to be back to normal again. Thankfully Naruto chose that moment to make himself known again as he bounded over to the two genin and bounced on his toes excitedly. "I'm just so pumped you guys! I can't wait y'know," he said with a toothy grin as he looked between his two teammates ecstatically.

"Well, that makes one of us I guess," came a sarcastic voice of another individual, this one much older and slightly deeper. All the genin immediately lined up next to one another and turned to the voice, seeing a man who had brown, shoulder length hair that hung about his face and was kept up by his hitai-ate that was worn as a bandana. He had brown eyes and was wearing the standard Konoha jōnin uniform, a single senbon needle sticking lazily out of his mouth.

"I am tokubetsu jōnin Shiranui Genma and I will be your substitute sensei from today until the end of the Chūnin Exams. Before we start with anything else though, I'd say a little introductions are in order. Nothing special, just your likes, dislikes, any hobbies, that should be fine. Why don't you start us off you little ball of energy."

Naruto bounced to his feet and gave his trademark foxy grin as he placed both hands behind his head. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, also more commonly known as the most unpredictable ninja, so feel free to call me that if you like." This was answered with a very quick yet very firm no from the tokubetsu jōnin, who just gestured to the blonde to continue. "I like ramen, my best friend Shūhei, meeting new people and watching the clouds and the ocean. I dislike bullies, winter and the fact that gravity on earth keeps us grounded." He stared off at the tree where he'd been chasing those birds earlier as he spoke that last part. "My hobbies are training, playing pranks, gardening and reading."

Naruto plopped himself back on the ground as Genma seemed to store the information, rolling the senbon around in his mouth with a somewhat astounded look. "Well, you're certainly... unique. I'll have to keep a tight leash on you I think," he muttered the last part more to himself, but the brown haired genin heard him and snickered a little off to the side. "You're up next," he said as he pointed his senbon at Shūhei who promptly stopped snickering at being called out.

Shūhei nodded his head quickly and stepped forward, throwing his hands in his pockets and smiling slightly at the ball of energy next to him that was his blonde friend. "My name is Shūhei. I like dango, my best friend Naruto and swimming, especially in the ocean. My dislikes are people with superiority issues and a certain blonde's pranks," he said as he turned to Naruto with an accompanying glare, the blonde just shrugging innocently with a devious smile on his face. "And my hobbies are training and playing the leaf flute."

Genma just nodded at the information before turning to the last member of the team. "Okay, last up. That's you specs."

Shiho's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the nickname, not that anyone could really see from behind her massive swirl glasses, so she settled for releasing a small amount of killing intent before returning to her usual demeanour. She adjusted her glasses with her finger and took on a neutral expression. "My name is Shiho. I like tea, spending time in the library and doing word puzzles. My dislikes are people who speak in the library and bugs. And my hobbies include reading and bettering myself at cryptography."

Genma gave a curt nod and shifted the senbon in his mouth a few times, taking on a thoughtful look. "Now that just leaves me, so here goes. The name's Shiranui Genma, tokubetsu jōnin of Konohagakure**. **My likes are taking long walks and my favourite food would have to be pumpkin broth. My dislikes are spinach and people who like to talk a big game but can't back it up. My hobby is travelling to all different places in the elemental nations and seeing all the different cultures and cuisine."

"That's a very nice hobby Genma-san," commented Shiho as she adjusted her glasses again, eliciting several nods from the boys to her left and right.

Genma gave them a small incline of his head and pulled the senbon out of his mouth, pointing it at the genin as he started to walk off to the far right of the training field to the black cenotaph, the genin getting up and following him closely. "Thanks, but it's Genma-sensei now, and the time for pleasantries is over." He stopped at the memorial stone and took on a serious look, his voice becoming more firm as well. "Did you guys see this stone? The names engraved on it are all shinobi from this village who died honourably during battle. The names of some of my closest friends are engraved on this stone..."

His voice became somewhat sombre towards the end, but his serious look remained. "As shinobi, you put your lives on the line on every mission, and the situations you'll find yourselves in will more often than not pit you against impossible choices... choices that could lead to the death of your teammates."

He placed the senbon needle back in his mouth and turned around to face them, a softer look encompassing his features as he regarded each one carefully. "Your teammates are the key to your survival. Your teamwork. It will either make you or break you as shinobi. Individual skills are important, that's always true; but you're only ever as strong as your weakest link. A stick on its own is easily broken, but a group of sticks held together is a different story. Do you guys understand where I'm going with this?" he asked rhetorically, gaining some measure of satisfaction from the resounding nods he was receiving.

"Teamwork is the most important aspect, and every shinobi in this village knows that." He started walking back off to the training posts, gesturing for the genin behind him to follow. "Now, with that being said, this is my first time seeing any of you, and I know nothing of your skills as shinobi. So, we're going to have a spar. A three on one spar, with all three of you, against me. This is the fastest way for me to gauge your skills, and I want you guys to take what I've told you this morning and try and apply it to this next spar. I'll give you guys ten minutes to discuss some strategy in a group, but when this alarm goes off..." he said while pulling out a small clock and placing it on the training post. "... I'll be gunning for you, so get to it. For what it's worth, your objective will be to incapacitate me," he finished with a cocky smirk adorning his face, his tone somewhat arrogant as he turned around to go and sit by the training posts.

The three genin immediately huddled up and formed a circle, making sure to discuss all their strengths and weaknesses so that they'd be able to cover each other in this next exercise as best as they could. Sure this was just going to be a spar, but they'd be learning a lot more about each other's fighting styles and skills than they would if they just talked, so they were going to have to go all out in this next fight. Their opponent wasn't going to be a pushover either, him being a tokubetsu jōnin, so they'd need to be pulling out all the stops for this one.

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_**AN: No new jutsus this time, but there shoule be a couple making their cameo appearance in the next chapter :) **_

_**Onto the critique: how did you guys find my writing of Shiho and Genma? They're going to become quite important characters in my story, and there isn't too much screen time or fanfics with them in either, so I didn't have much to go by with regards to their personalities and so forth, but I tried my absolute best to make them as realistic as possible, so any advice on that front would be great.**_

_**Otherwise, with regards to the big chapter changes (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it, it won't affect you in anyway), this is where you guys will have read up to, so start from the next chapter again. Sorry about that inconvenience, but I suppose it had to be done.**_

_**Any ways, that's all from my side, till next time...**_


	7. Students and Sensei Clash

**_AN: And we're back with the latest chapter for Tsuki's Maverick! Good to see you guys again, sorry for the long wait until I could update again, but I am truly sorry about that. But, the next chapter is here, so hopefully it will detract attention away from my long update time and onto this next chapter :D This chapter is a little longer, but I did answer reviews in this one, so it's not longer by much I think._**

**_Edit: (This is just for those who were reading right from the beginning when I still had pretty large chapter. This is where you guys will start reading from again, so enjoy. Again, I apologise for the inconveniences caused by my chapter changes, and I hope it wasn't too much of a stuff up :P Thanks for sticking with me, and enjoy the chapter :)_**

**_I thought I'd finally get around to answering your reviews... Yes, it's that time :D It makes sense that if you guys take time out to actually write a review, that I should take some time out to answer them. Most of these are horribly outdated, so sorry about that, but here goes:_**

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BigMakki - Thanks for the compliments, I really tried to write a fic that was different when I came up with this one, so thanks =) And, no, this won't be a NaruHina fic. I know exactly what you mean, I really used to enjoy the pairing too, but it just got way overused, and I just can't read any stories with that pairing anymore. I might be a little prejudiced, but, what're you gonna do?

the unregistered wolf animagus - Hehe, thanks, gald to hear you enjoyed it so much =) And I'll continue to update this if it's the last thing I do, seriously :D also, Shuuhei was based off of Eren from SnK (go check my profile for info on it; I recommend you watch the anime because it's kickass and you will see what Shuuhei looks like), and the fight scene is based off of Prince of persia :)

LordHero - Hey mate, thanks, that's what I was trying to go for when I came up with this idea... something that's never been written before, and I feel I got the gist of it down, I just hope that the story is still okay :) Also, I based Shuuhei off of Eren from SnK (if you're not sure what that is, go read my profile and watch the anime, firstly so you can see what Shuuhei looks like, and secondly because it's a kickass anime :D Also, no, I won't be having Naruto join Konoha, you're right in saying he loves his home, so that won't be happening :)

kumonaruto - Hehe, you got it in one buddy, it is based off the prince of persia scene =) And thanks, I really tried to make this as interseting as possible, glad to hear you're looking forward to the next chapter :D

bcoleton1 - Hehe, thanks mate! I'm really glad to hear that you're enjoying it so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy it :D If I ever start going off the bandwagon a bit, I'll trust you to knock me back into line and write this story properly, ne? ;) And you guessed correctly, Prince of persia was the fight scene, and Shuuhei is based off of Eren Jaeger from SnK :) And sorry about the change in chapter length. Personally, I like monumental chapters too, but, well, the majority usually rules s they say :P

UzumakiKirofu - Thanks mate, I appreciate it, and glad you enjoyed the story =) I really do hope I start getting more reviews and followers though... it really is true how most authors say that it helps motivate them to write quicker xD Glad you want to see more :)

CW - Hey mate, thanks, I tried to make this one original, and judging from your review, I guess I succeeded =D But yeah, I'm going to try and make this as different as I can, but there are certain things which I won't change (hopefully you won't mind those), because to be honest, several things are already pretty good from the anime, but don't worry, I'm going to be trying to make things different as much as possible =) Also, I can't really understand with regards to the reviews thing either, but I suppose that comes with time. And I'm glad you're enjoying this as much as you are so far, it really is great to hear, you have no idea :D Sorry for this slower update though, but I hope you enjoy it, so please let me know :) And thanks, here's that new stuff you were looking for :D

AnimeFreak71777 - Hehe, I'm really glad you enjoyed it, and I'll definitely be updating as soon as possible :D Let me know if the story continues to be as good as you hoped it would be. I'd like to continue to write it and receive reviews like yours :D Thanks again =)

scarletstrong - Hey scar, thanks for the review and vote of confidence, I really appreciate, you have no idea =) I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far, so please continue to read and let me know if it continue's like that :D

tekken872 - Hehe, thanks, I really hoped I wasn't going to fast or too slow, so that's good to know :D Good to hear you enjoyed the story so far, so please continue to read and review :)

arya304 - Thanks arya, your review actually got a huge smile out of me, I really appreciate it =) thanks a million, and I hope my story continues not to disappoint =)

cmcc.93 - Hey mate, thanks for the review, good to hear you like the stroy, and thanks for the compliment on my writing, I really do try :D

TheBeardedAsshat - I'll admit that I made a few mistakes with the japanese translations, and I fixed those, but try not to be so... yeah, I'll just leave it at that and hope you can unravel the rest yourself :P

Guest - Hey mate (really bummed you aren't a member, would've liked to give you a personal PM), I'm really pysched about your review, and I firstly just want to say thanks for taking the time out to write it :) I really appreciate it, and your criticism really means a lot, I'll try and apply to this next chapter, so let me know if I do =) Also, when I write I really do try my best to not make errors, as well as writing with a bit of depth and in proper tense, grammar, all that jazz (you said that to the tune of that song, didn't you... I know I did :D)... so it's good to hear someone compliment me on it =) Otherwise, thanks again for the advice, I did what you told me and eased up on the translations a bit, just gonna leave those for jutsu; the jutsu almost feel naked without the translations beside them, so I can't change those xD; and you got the correct answer for the fight scene, prince of persia it was, but Shuuhei was based off of Eren Jaeger from SnK, so go check out that anime if you wanna see what he looks like :)

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_**Sorry for that long wait, but here's the chapter... finally :D**_

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

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_Chapter 7: Students and Sensei Clash_

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"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

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_Konohagakure, Training Ground 3, early morning..._

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_TING TING TING_

"Okay you guys, time's up. Begin!" With the go-ahead given by Genma, the genin ahead of him all sprung into action, the two males withdrawing kunai and taking offensive stances in front of the jōnin while the lone female genin took to the surrounding trees, all sight of her lost as she was absorbed into the leafy camouflage.

Genma regarded the two boys in front of him with a calculating gaze, manoeuvring his senbon within his mouth around from left to right absently. 'They're most likely going to start off slow to try and gauge my skills while at the same time trying not to give me any insight into their own. If that's the case, for the sake of this exercise, I'll bite and see what they've got to offer.'

Shūhei's foot shifted slightly as he watched the jōnin standing calmly ahead of him and Naruto, the senbon needle sticking out of his mouth absently moving from left to right. Naruto's grip on his kunai tightened, his knuckles going the faintest shade of white as his muscles slowly tensed. And then all of a sudden, as if on some unspoken command, Naruto and Shūhei shot forward, Naruto going in for close quarters taijutsu while Shūhei circled from a little further out, waiting for an opportune moment to strike with a ranged attack.

Naruto flicked his kunai at Genma once he was within three metres of the jōnin, said jōnin simply tilting his head to the left to dodge the incoming projectile. His eyes widened slightly however when Naruto went up in a puff of smoke, a kunai falling to the ground as it replaced the blonde genin. Genma's right arm immediately shot up in a guard, blocking the kick that Naruto threw from his substituted place behind the jōnin's head. The jōnin noted that the blonde had some power behind his hit. Not enough to hurt his arm but enough to become a hindrance if he continued to block the genin's strikes.

Naruto dropped to the ground onto his left palm and swivelled his body counter-clockwise, sending his left foot towards the jōnin's upper torso in a feat of superb acrobatics. Genma once again though just dropped his right arm from its previous position and caught the offending appendage, a momentary smirk gracing his lips as he tossed the blonde genin away from him.

His victory was short lived though as the whizzing of incoming kunai forced him to roll left, and then right and then left again, a series of small explosions going off as the kunai with attached explosive notes went off in quick succession.

He stopped in a crouch and glanced up at the two genin, both standing motionlessly a few metres away from him. However, it was the seal that the brown haired boy was currently holding that gave him cause for concern. His hands were in the rat seal, and slowly, a swirl of leaves rose up around him, obscuring his view for but a second, before both boys faded from his view and he was standing alone in the clearing.

However, he wasn't a jōnin for a reason, and he knew exactly what this was the moment it started to take effect. Before the genjutsu could even begin to take hold of the jōnin, he brought his hands into the ram seal and halted his chakra before expelling it all at once in a quick burst. "Kai!" The clearing wavered for a moment before the two boys were standing back in front of him, not having moved from their previous spots. "Heh, that was close, but you guys are gonna have to do better than that if you wanna catch me off guard..."

He trailed off as he felt an immense heat begin to encompass the area all around him, and he looked back to the two genin in front of him to see them still standing there as motionless as before, something which worried him slightly. Upon closer inspection, the two boys' bodies wavered and then faded from view, revealing them to be two regular bunshins.

He hurriedly looked around the clearing in search for the stray genin, only to notice a massive shadow looming over the entire area. His eyes slowly drifted to the afternoon sky where he easily found the source of the increasing temperature, as well as the source of the gigantic shadow. It was a massive, meteor-sized fire ball, and it was falling straight for him.

_'Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu __**(Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Technique)**_. So, they layered two genjutsu's over me. Not bad. I didn't even notice the second genjutsu until now, and if I hadn't experienced this genjutsu hundreds of times before, I would've been done for.'

He brought his hands into the ram seal and once again dispelled the genjutsu, the massive ball of fire fading from view and allowing the brightly shining sun from directly behind it to be seen again. However as he observed the sun, he noticed the form of a rapidly descending Naruto as he slowly materialised as the genjutsu faded, both hands gripped tightly onto a trench knife each.

Genma didn't have the time to dodge and quickly retrieved two kunai as fast as he could, only just managing to bring them up to block as the blonde's weapons made contact with his. "Hmm, so you saw through the genjutsu Genma-sensei... you're pretty good, you know that," stated Naruto as he struggled with his two weapons against the strength of his sensei who was simultaneously pushing back with his two kunai.

Genma smirked with his senbon still securely in his mouth as he watched a bead of sweat form on the genin's brow from the pressure he was putting on the boy's blades. "Heh. Now what kind of jōnin would I be if I wasn't at least able to back up my rank," he retorted sarcastically with a slight hint of amusement in his tone, the strain the blonde was currently in giving him some momentary entertainment and a fair amount of satisfaction.

"Well, we're not done yet. Not even close!" Naruto finished loudly as he gave a little more effort into his pushing, slowly sending his wind chakra into his trench knives to sharpen them to unnatural levels. The two kunai that Genma was holding onto slowly began getting pierced by the knives of the blonde, causing Genma's eyes to widen minutely in surprise at the sudden turn of events.

Just as the kunai gave way, Genma jumped back and threw the remaining bladeless-handles in his hands away, staring back at the now panting blonde curiously. 'He's already able to channel elemental chakra into his weapons... the surprises just never stop with this one.'

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_In the trees around the clearing, with Shiho..._

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Shiho was watching intently from her hiding spot within the trees, the current battle between their new sensei and Naruto garnering her full attention. 'Oh my. Uzumaki-san is really good,' she thought with barely veiled trepidation, her hands clutched tightly around the salvo of senbon needles that she was prepared to fire off as soon as an opportunity presented itself. As soon as she could find an opening, she reminded herself; just like they'd discussed earlier...

_(Flashback)_

_"Okay Shiho-san, Naruto and I are going to start by engaging him head on, and while we're busy doing that you watch from in the trees over there and try to assess his skills," started Shūhei as they huddled together in their makeshift circle. "If he starts pushing us back, I'll put him in a genjutsu and then you layer your one over mine, giving Naruto a chance to take him down again."_

_Letting everyone absorb that part of the plan, he then pointed to the roughly drawn sketch of the clearing that was made in the sand at their feet, gesturing to the trees that were located all around. "Once Naruto is engaging Genma-sensei after the genjutsu's have been dispelled; I doubt he'll be under them for long, he is a jōnin after all; you look for an opening Shiho-san, and when you find one, you take it and make it count." _

_She nodded her head somewhat nervously but she knew what she had to do regardless. Despite being a somewhat reluctant fighter, she was still a shinobi for a reason. "O-Okay, so we have the first stage set up, and if that fails, we move over to phase two, where we'll try and herd him towards the river; and that's where you come in Shūhei-san..." spoke Shiho as she pointed towards the river with a few crudely drawn stick figures meant to be the members of their team. "Your Suiton will play a vital role in distracting him before we spring the trap..." _

_(Flashback End)_

She watched intently as Naruto and Genma-sensei battled it out with their respective blades, their sensei slowly overpowering Naruto as the strain became visible on his face. But then in a strange turn of events, Naruto cut straight through their sensei's kunai, who jumped back with a momentary look of surprise on his face-... 'Now's my chance!' she thought quickly, letting her senbon fly straight for Genma's neck with precision accuracy; the kind of accuracy that was only attained after several long months of rigorous training.

The senbon hit home with a soft squelch, and small spurts of blood flew out from the entry wounds. Genma had wide eyes and his face was a mask of surprise as his hand drifted up to the back of his neck, Naruto's eyes glinting with pride at the success of their plan.

However, it was not to be as Genma's body suddenly went up in a puff of smoke, a log with four senbon dug into it remaining in his previous position, revealing their sensei to have substituted himself out of harm's way at the last second.

Shiho's eyes widened though as she realised that she had just given away her position after that failed attempt to take down their sensei, and she immediately started springing away from her spot on the branch in the opposite direction.

Just as she feared though, Genma was upon her almost instantly, and she lost her footing on the branch in her momentary surprise, slowly falling towards the ground from the branches she was on that were roughly 15 metres high. Time seemed to slow down as the ground began to rise to meet her falling body, her eyes darting this way and that as she desperately tried to find something to grab a hold of.

She was already too far from the tree to try and stick to the bark with her chakra, and there were no immediate objects that she could substitute herself with to get herself out of this predicament. Never mind all the weapons that she could have used that were on her person, but after having gotten a bit of a scare from their sensei and the sense of falling to her death filling her thoughts, her mind was in a bit of a panicked state.

But then in a flash, a salvo of kunai and shuriken made their way at Genma from the tree to their right, forcing the jōnin to halt in his pursuit of Shiho as he faced off against Shūhei who was now assaulting their sensei in a match of taijutsu.

She remembered she was still falling though and turned her body to look towards the ground for anything she could substitute herself with at the last second, but ultimately found nothing. She was about to brace herself for the impact when, in a blur, something grabbed her out of the sky and quickly deposited her on the ground before darting off in a blur once again, leaving a fading after image of Naruto that dissipated into a wisp of wind.

'Uzumaki-san's so fast!' She quickly shook her head though and moved back towards her second position, getting herself ready for the second phase. The first had clearly not worked, and her two male teammates would be pressing their sensei now to initiate the next phase.

Back with Shūhei and Genma, the brown haired boy was trying his best to land a hit on the tokubetsu jōnin, but their sensei was just swerving out of reach of each attack, parrying all the more threatening knifed-attacks with his kunai. They continued like this for a while before, in a small flicker, Naruto joined them on the branch, his hands once again holding his trench knives as he moved to simultaneously engage Genma with Shūhei.

'What was that just now?' questioned Genma as he thought to the way the blonde flickered into existence and the speed with which he did it. 'Was it a shunshin? No, there's no way a shunshin could be that fast. Then what was it?' The question grated around in his mind for a little while before his attention was once again drawn to the blonde boy, whose hands were now in a very particular cross seal.

'That jutsu too?' he thought wearily as he watched the scene ahead of him. The surprises really did just keep coming and coming it seemed. He was going to need to start taking the fight more seriously if this kept up. He had just been dodging and avoiding attacks since the start of the fight, and he did say that he would fight back. 'I'll give them a little longer before I kick it up a notch.'

Naruto gave Shūhei an almost imperceptible nod before he built up the chakra for his jutsu. _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**__!"_

Multiple clones of Naruto poofed into existence, 15 blonde's each wielding a pair of trench knives and a small grin. With all the clones ready to herd Genma towards the river, they shot off in wild, erratic patterns as they simultaneously jumped in at their sensei. One by one they launched in at him with their trench knives, swiping and swinging from any angle they could as Genma bobbed and weaved in between each strike.

The fact that Genma hadn't decided to start attacking back yet made this all the much easier. Because he was dodging and parrying each of the blows instead of counter attacking, he was constantly back pedalling and moving closer and closer towards the river. They'd have him within their trap in no time, Naruto thought with an ever growing grin.

It didn't take them long before they were battling it out atop the river's surface, all of the Naruto clones surrounding Genma on all sides. "You seem to be trapped Genma-sensei," commented one of the clones as it shifted on the water slightly, inching ever closer to the jōnin in the centre of their group.

"Yeah, how are you gonna get yourself out of this one sensei?" another clone remarked challengingly, gripping a little tighter on its trench knives.

'Huh, I guess it's time I started fighting back then,' he thought with a shrug as he rolled the senbon around in his mouth a couple times. "Alright, if you guys are ready... how about I give you your first lesson. Shinobi battle skill number one: Taijutsu."

With that, he leapt straight at the first clone, ducking under a wide swing from the blonde doppelganger and sending his elbow straight into its gut, the clone sputtering for a second before it puffed out of existence. He quickly leapt for the next one and dispelled it with a swift kick to the back of the head, the rest of the clones tensing and taking an anxious step back. "What's the matter you blonde ball of energy? I've just barely gotten started and you're already backing away," he taunted with a playful smirk. Oh how he loved to rile up the kids.

The real Naruto who was among the clones sputtered angrily for a second before he walked a few steps closer and held his trench knives in reverse grip again. "We're not gonna back down y'know!" With that, the real Naruto re-engaged Genma with taijutsu, not giving their sensei so much as an inch. But Genma just seemed to flow out of the way of each attack, his smirk slowly widening as Naruto's frustration became ever more visible on his face.

Having had enough of dodging, Genma lashed out with a powerful kick to Naruto's torso, momentarily leaving the blonde winded and wide eyed before he disappeared in a puff of smoke, having made a lightning fast _Kawarimi __**(Substitution)**_ with one of his clones standing around Genma. Genma blinked quickly before his smirk came back full force. 'The kid's definitely quick, I'll give him that. But, I think it's time to even the playing fields a bit...'

"Shinobi battle skills number two: Ninjutsu." He ran through a speedy set of hand seals, ending on the tiger seal and bringing it up to his mouth as he aimed at the surrounding clones. _"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu __**(Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)**__!"_

He released a massive barrage of fist-sized fire balls in a continuous stream, fireball after fireball racing after one of Naruto's clones. The clones managed to avoid most of the first few opening shots, but it was only a matter of time before the fireballs caught up with them, resulting in more than a few clones going up in puffs of smoke. Genma didn't let up though and continued the onslaught, making contact with the last few clones until they were all gone, the lingering smoke from the dispelled clones and balls of fire drifting away with the gentle breeze.

He removed his finger and took a deep breath to replenish the oxygen he had used up, rubbing at his slightly burning chest. He'd used the technique for longer than that before, but it had been a really long time since he'd had to use it for so long, so you could say he was more than a little rusty. 'I can't believe how out of shape I am. What's worse... I can't believe it took a trio of teenage brats to even push me this far...'

The absence of Naruto gave him pause for a few seconds though, the jōnin glancing around with narrowed eyes as he observed the area around the lake, as well as taking a cursory glance down into the water below him for good measure. "He's gone," he muttered with a little confusion, blinking several times before rolling the senbon around in his mouth. "Must've scared him off-..."

_"Suiton: Mizurappa __**(Water Release: Wild Water Wave)**__!"_

_"Fūton: Repūshou __**(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**__!"_

Genma's body spun around insanely fast, his head whipping about to the sounds of the voices where he spotted Naruto and Shūhei on the other side of the river, the latter with his hand brought up next to his mouth as he expelled a torrent of water, while the former had his hands clapped together as he enhanced the concussive force and speed of his partner's Suiton jutsu with his Fūton one.

Genma's eyes widened to comical proportions as the speeding torrent of water made its way straight for his body, the jutsu spraying water all over the face of the river, and the immediate area on the opposite side of the flowing stream becoming deluged from the jutsu's massive water output.

The only thing Genma had time to do was jump away from the speeding jet stream of water as far back as he could, flying backwards quite far into the clearing on the opposite side of the river that the offending teens were standing on.

However, the knowing grins that both genin were sporting from behind their respective jutsu's put the jōnin slightly on edge, but by the time he realised something was up, it was too late, and his vision was quickly consumed by darkness.

_"Doton: Dorō__Dōmo __**(Earth Release: Earth Dome)**__!"_ Shiho stood at the position right behind Genma's airborne form with her hands clapped together as she concentrated with a furrowed brow, manipulating the earth around her.

It took some effort on her part, but the dome enclosed with great speed around the descending jōnin, and as soon as he touched down, he was covered in a dome of earth. With a quick leap towards the earth construct, Shiho retrieved a small seal from within her pouch that she'd drawn up earlier in preparation for this and slapped it on the side of the dome. The Chakra Draining Seal she had placed on it expanded as the small amount of chakra she laced into it activated the seal, the kanji and inky black lines of the seal spreading over the entire dome, siphoning off all and any chakra that was contained within the earthen construct

She heaved out an exhausted breath, wiping her furrowed brow of any remaining sweat as she looked over her and her new teammates' handy work with a satisfactory nod. "Well guys... *pant*, we did it."

Shiho plopped down on the ground as her two male teammates joined her at her side, both looking a little worse for wear and breathing a little heavier, but otherwise looking as fine as could be expected. She on the other hand was a little more exhausted. She was honestly not used to doing so much work, having worked and apprenticed in the Konoha Cryptanalysis Team for the past year since graduating at the Academy. She hadn't done so much physical exercise ages, and she felt slightly embarrassed by how out of breath she was from only performing a couple techniques.

"Shit, that was intens-..."

_"Doton: Doryū__Taiga __**(Earth Release: Earth Flow River)**__!"_

Naruto was swiftly cut off as another voice sounded out from the other side of the clearing, prompting all the genin to turn their heads and see the form of their thought-to-be-captured sensei as he stood with his hands in the tiger seal. Nothing happened for a split second, before a mass of mud rose up from in front of the genin and engulfed their feet in the slushy earth, throwing them all off their feet and into the thick muddy earth.

Shūhei's water jutsu from earlier had tempered the earth perfectly, and it made the use of Genma's jutsu that much easier for him. The genin became momentarily trapped in the sludge that was beneath all their bodies, and before they could think of escaping, their sensei began running through several more hand seals before ending on the snake seal. _"Doton: Doro Sherukēsu __**(Earth Release: Mud Shell Casing)**__!"_

The mud around their bodies shifted for a brief second before it snaked its way around the genin's bodies, covering them from their neck's down to the ground in the brown sludge. It formed a box-like shell around their bodies, forcing their arms out to their sides and leaving only their finger tips free. With a little more manipulation from Genma's end, they were all swivelled up 90 degrees into a standing position, but with their bodies subdued within the jutsu and their arms and hands forced out to the side in their earthy encasements, all they could do was be ensnared within the jutsu and watch as their sensei slowly rolled his senbon in his mouth as he casually strolled over to the mud covered teens.

Genma stared at their bound forms for several seconds, taking note of the various expressions each teen wore. Shiho didn't seem all too worried about the fact that she'd been caught, but the look of utter disgust that was marring her features told him all he needed to know about what she thought of being captured in his technique.

Naruto's face held a measure of annoyance, and his fruitless struggling could clearly be seen all over his face, not to mention the grunts of exertion he was making as he struggled to break his muddy bindings. And lastly, Shūhei's face was set into one of intense thought, obviously still trying to discern how Genma had managed to escape and pull one over them after he'd been solidly captured within their dome.

What they didn't know was that Doton **(Earth Release)** was his second elemental affinity; Katon being his primary; so getting himself out of their trap was as easy as _Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu __**(Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)**_. That was for him to know though.

'So, from what I can tell so far, I've got a level headed Suiton user who is somewhat proficient in taijutsu; a Doton, genjutsu-using kunoichi who also seems to be somewhat proficient at Fuuinjutsu **(Art of Sealing)**; and a Fūton user who's incredibly fast for his age, excels at close-quarter's combat and has massive chakra reserves if his liberal use of Kage Bunshin is anything to go by. I can definitely work with this...' Genma thought with a pleased nod as he pulled his senbon out of his mouth in favour of twirling it around his fingers as he regarded his genin with a smirk.

"Well, it would seem that you guys aren't **_completely_** hopeless," Genma started with a cheeky smirk as he paced casually in front of all of the genin's mud restricted forms, using chakra at the bottom of his soles to easily walk over the sludge trap he'd created. "You guys all have varied strengths that, when used in conjunction with each other, can prove very fatal to whoever is caught within them."

It didn't go unnoticed by the genin that he glanced back to the dome of earth to their left's, prompting his genin to smirk victoriously. "But, as with each of your strengths comes weaknesses as well, which I could've easily exploited had I been fighting seriously with you guys."

This elicited a series of understanding nods from his genin; an action which prompted the tokubetsu jōnin to smile. "That being said, you guys did well, and as celebration for the formation of this temporary squad and your **_outstanding_** performance..." he replied with a hint of sarcasm laced into the statement, smirking again at the blonde whisker-marked boy's indignant look. "... I'll treat you guys to dinner. How does that sound?" He gave them all a grin at their cries of joy, but before anything else...

"I recommend you guys go clean yourselves up though," he added with a slight grimace before his face twisted into an amused smirk. "Seriously, what made you guys decide to go rolling around in the mud like this?" The positively annoyed looks on their faces only served to send the jōnin into a fit of chuckles, but he nevertheless dispelled the technique and directed their attentions to the river behind him. "Take a quick dip and rest in the sun for a bit afterwards. We'll head out to find a place to eat in about an hour."

They all nodded their heads and trodded along towards the water, Naruto chatting animatedly with Shūhei as Shiho giggled with her hand over her mouth from the side. Despite only just becoming their sensei, he had this odd sense of pride as he watched them walk together and converse as a team. It wasn't all that significant yet, but the feeling was definitely there, and he couldn't help but smile in anticipation for the months to come. 'It's sure gonna be entertaining if nothing else, that's for sure.'

* * *

_The streets of Konohagakure __**(Hidden Leaf)**__, later that evening..._

* * *

The sun was nearing the end of its daily arc, casting a long shadow over the village as it slowly disappeared behind the massive trees that made up the forest surrounding Konoha. It was a beautiful evening, one that was being used by Team Genma to celebrate the formation of their team. "So, where do you guys wanna go to eat? I'm not made of money so be reasonable," he added afterwards as he noticed their eyes lingering on the more high-end restaurants for a little longer than what he liked.

"Well Naruto has already taken me to go eat ramen three times, and this is only our second day here, so that's a definite no," Shūhei said with finality, his voice oddly stern. Naruto deflated slightly at his obvious choice already being shot down. Why did everybody have to hate on the ramen? "And because we're not from here and don't really know the restaurants all that well, how about Shiho-san chooses?"

Naruto looked towards Shiho and shrugged easily with a nod of his head, and Genma shrugged all the same as he just followed from behind and watched them work this out.

Shiho's cheeks took on a slight red tinge as the spotlight was pointed towards her, and she coughed into her hands a few times before adjusting her glasses again. "W-well, if you insist, then how about... that one," she said with a small stutter as she pointed ahead towards a large restaurant that had wide windows, large green booths that could be seen from outside and a small sign that read 'Yakiniku Q'.

The aroma's that were wafting out from within the establishment were more than enough to get an agreeing nod from Naruto, so Shūhei and Genma shrugged and walked on ahead. "This place is actually pretty good value for money, so if this is where you guys wanna eat, then be my guest."

Naruto gave an excited nod and dashed ahead, making his way inside before the rest of the team even reached the restaurant. The rest of Team Genma slowly walked in, and were slightly surprised to see that Naruto had walked up to another table and was in the middle of fist pumping a boy with black hair.

"Hey Shika, it's good to see you again," Naruto grinned happily as he looked over the rest of the people at the table they were sitting at. "Is this the rest of your team?" he asked curiously as he pointed to the pretty blonde haired girl and the chubby brown haired boy, as well as glancing over at the elder man sitting beside Shikamaru himself.

The rest of the genin from Team 10 sans Shikamaru looked at Naruto curiously with a hint of veiled suspicion, while Asuma regarded the boy with a look of realisation. 'So, this is one of the genin from Getsugakure...'

"Shika, you know this guy?" questioned the blonde girl as she eyed the Getsugakure head band tied around the whiskered boy's arm. She was more than a little suspicious of a foreign shinobi being in the village. She was this village's gossip head, and having not heard anything about foreign shinobi entering the village was making her a little wary.

Shikamaru just nodded his head and continued to look at Naruto with an amused smirk. "Yeah, this is Naruto guys. He's from Getsugakure and he's here for the upcoming Chūnin Exams," he explained before turning towards his teammates and gesturing to each one. "And these are my teammates Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji; and that's our jōnin sensei Sarutobi Asuma."

Naruto gave the blonde girl and the chubby boy a wave each before turning to the jōnin sensei and regarding him with a hint of awe. "You're Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and a former member of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve... you're a legend Sarutobi-san."

Shūhei was just as surprised to hear Naruto, his Naruto, using honorifics, as the rest of Team 10 was to hear that their sensei was the son of the Hokage. Seriously though, how didn't they know? He was their sensei after all, and he had the same surname as the Hokage, surely they should have made the connection. Although, it was debateable whether Shikamaru knew it or not; his mask of laziness and indifference didn't waver and he didn't so much as bat an eye lid, so you couldn't really be sure.

'Finally, someone who knows their stuff and actually gives me a little respect,' Asuma thought as he puffed out his chest ever so slightly with pride. "Heh, no need for honorific's kid. Asuma-sensei will do. And nice to meet you by the way."

It was at this moment that Genma chose to make himself known as he lazily strode up behind Naruto and rested a hand on both of his shoulders from behind. "Hey Asuma. I apologise if my genin here interrupted your guys' dinner. He's a bit of a wildcard, and I'm still trying to figure out a way to put a leash on him."

Asuma chuckled at the genin's expense, said genin giving out a cry of indignation as the bearded jōnin popped a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it at the same time as he waved them off. "Eh, don't worry about it Genma. The kid's no problem at all. You forget I'm family with Konohamaru. And if you guys were coming here for supper as well, you're more than welcome to join us. There's plenty of room here for the both of us," he said with a smile as he gestured to the open seats. Indeed, there were just enough seats to have both teams at the table.

Genma gave a small shrug and rolled his senbon a couple times before gesturing with his head to his genin as a devious smirk made its way onto his features. "You heard him you guys, take a seat and eat up. Asuma's treating."

Asuma's face immediately fell and his cigarette dropped out of his mouth as he sputtered incoherently. "W-wha... but I never... when did you..." His mouth opened and closed several times like a fish out of water before he returned Genma's smirk with a small smirk of his own as he lit up another cigarette and put it in his mouth, the previous one having fallen into the brazier in the middle of the table. "I'll treat this time Genma, but just be ready to take the next one. You owe me one now."

Genma just inclined his head as he kept up his smirk. "It's a date then."

Naruto took the open seat next to Ino with Shiho taking up the position to Naruto's left, and Genma moved in next to Shikamaru while Shūhei took up Genma's right. Before anything else could be said though, Chouji stood up from his spot and shouted out to the waiter with a big smile adorning his face. "Another round of negi tanshio, and keep 'em coming waiter-san!"

Taking a look around, Naruto finally got a good look inside the restaurant, and it wasn't quite what he expected. It was extremely bland, with quite a few booths like the one they were sitting in scattered around the shop. It was just an average Gyū-Kaku-style restaurant with coal braziers at the centre of each table where patrons would cook their meals themselves. He turned to his right though when he felt someone poking his shoulder and came face to face with the blonde haired Yamanaka Ino.

"Hey, your name's Naruto right?" questioned the blonde girl curiously as she regarded him with a critical gaze. I mean, what kind of name was 'fishcake' anyway?

Naruto just nodded and grinned happily. "That's me. Or, 'The Most Unpredictable Ninja' as the people from Tsuki no Kuni call me," he said with a sheepish rub of the back of his head.

The girl's expression changed from scrutinising to genuine curiosity after hearing that. "So you're from Tsuki no Kuni huh? What's it like there?"

Naruto's grin switched to a fond smile as he thought of his home. "It's a really beautiful place, nothing like Konoha. Especially at night when all the stars and the moon are out, reflecting off of the sea-..."

"Are you trying to say that Konoha's not beautiful," she questioned dangerously as she waited for his next answer, her scrutinising gaze back in full force. She didn't know what it was, but the fact that foreign ninja were in their village like this was just rubbing her the wrong way. Maybe she was just being paranoid though.

The recent back up mission her team had gone on to Nami no Kuni **(Land of Waves)** to help Team 7 had been a real eye opener to her to start taking her job as a ninja more seriously, and she supposed she was still slightly on edge after the somewhat traumatic experience. Nothing could have prepared her for the bloody massacre that had taken place there.

Naruto threw his hands up in a placating manner as he tried to calm the girl down, glancing out the window at the darkening skies and the slowly rising moon. "No, it's not like that at all! Konoha's one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to," he said quickly. 'Although to be fair I've never been anywhere else besides Konoha and Tsuki, but she doesn't need to know that.'

He sighed slowly and scratched the back of his head wearily. "It's just; Tsuki and Konoha are two different kinds of beautiful. Tsuki has the ocean, and the sandy beaches, the more jungle type surroundings compared to the forest like woodland that surrounds Konoha. The flora's quite different too because of the climates, and the sakura trees and shibazakura that grow around here don't really grow in Tsuki, but..." seeing that he was slowly going off on a bit of a tangent, and the girl's face was becoming slightly blank, he slowly shook his head and was saved further conversation as the waiter brought the food to the table. "Sorry about that, got a little carried away y'know." He turned at the smell of the food though and dug in quickly.

Ino just looked at him a little longer with slightly surprised eyes before grabbing some meat as well before Chouji could take all of it. And low and behold, in mere seconds Chouji had scooped up little close to half of the meat at the table and was just about finished cooking it, stuffing them all in his mouth in one go before swallowing them all at once. Naruto just looked at him challengingly and did much the same, except most of the meat on his side had been taken so he couldn't quite hold a candle to the chubby boy.

"Woah, you're pretty good Naruto. You **_almost_** ate as much as I did," Chouji said with an uncharacteristic smirk on his swirl-cheeked face. It was odd to see the guy so cheery when he was speaking about the amount of food he ate.

Naruto returned his smirk with one of his own before he narrowed his eyes playfully. "Is that a challenge?" he questioned lowly, his voice coming out oddly quiet at the table, yet it was heard perfectly clear by the rotund genin.

Chouji's smirk turned playful as he quickly ordered another round from the waiter. "I don't know, you think you can keep up?"

That was the last thing that night that could be considered normal, because once the next plate of meat arrived, nobody besides Naruto and Chouji managed to snag any pieces of the meat, their hands and chopsticks moving at lightning speed as they scooped up piece after piece in a massive contest of meat-eating.

That was pretty much how the rest of the night went on. Plate after plate of meat would arrive, Naruto and Chouji would devour said plates, and the rest of the table would watch on in amusement as Asuma silently cried to himself in the corner with a rain cloud over his head as he watched the plates pile up and the size of the bill steadily lengthen. All in all it was a good night. For all except Asuma, that is.

"Thanks for the dinner Asuma-sensei!" chirped Chouji and Naruto happily as they rubbed at their bellies in contentment. Asuma just nodded weakly and handed over a massive wad of cash to the waiter, his wallet visibly and audibly deflating from the massive dent it just received, courtesy of the two genin.

His moping slowly turned into a mischievous-bordering-manic grin as he rounded on the two genin. "Hey, what are senseis for, right? So, how's about we have an eating contest next time round, Team 10's Chouji versus Team Genma's Naruto?"

The two genin's faces lit up like Christmas trees, and their excitement was palpable at this point. "Really Asuma-sensei? That's so cool. You're the best sensei ever!"

Asuma just chuckled darkly as he lit up a cigarette and took a few puffs from the tobacco stick. "Oh no, don't thank me kids. Thank Genma. He's the one who's going to be treating next time. Isn't that right Genma?"

The genin turned to a now pale-faced Genma, whose senbon was about to fall out of his mouth before he managed to clamp shut on it and keep it in place, rolling it around anxiously a few times before he sighed and just resigned himself to his doom with a face palm.

He was going to get eaten out of his wallet by two genin with extremely massive appetites. He knew it, and he just decided to accept it. "That's right; I will be treating you, so go nuts I suppose." There were no traces of amusement in his voice, and Asuma could've sworn he saw the tiniest of frowns form on his brow, but he couldn't be quite sure. This guy was almost as good at holding back his emotions as Kakashi was.

Asuma just took another drag of his cigarette before rounding to his left and ushering his genin along with a smirk. "I'll see you around Genma. We meet back here every couple days at around 5 o'clock in the evening. Sound good?"

Genma gave his usual smirk and nodded his head as he gave a small wave to the jōnin. "Sounds good to me. Maybe invite Kakashi and Kurenai over one evening, hell, even Gai. Get the gang all together again. Just let them know that I **_won't_** be paying for all of them," he said with a firm edge to his voice as he bit softly on his senbon. 'Even if I have to grab my genin and run, I will find a way out of having to pay for all those vultures.'

Asuma just nodded and turned on his heels, his genin in tow as they waved each other off. Genma turned down to his genin and gave them each a smile before he leaned up against the wall of Yakiniku Q. "So, you guys are officially my genin now, and we'll now be going under the name of Team Genma. Our training ground is going to continue to be Training Ground 3, so meet up there tomorrow at 8 o'clock sharp. Good work today guys, I'm proud of you." With that, he gave a small wave and disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the rest of the genin alone outside the restaurant.

Shiho held her hands behind her in her usual timid manner and gave both boys' a small smile. "W-well, I have to be going as well Shūhei-san, Uzumaki-san. My parents will be waiting for me you see." With her part quickly said, she gave both genin a swift nod before she dashed off to the rooftops and headed on home.

Shūhei turned to Naruto and shrugged non-chalantly as he turned in their apartment's direction and slowly headed off that way. "Well, let's get back to our room then and go to bed. There's nothing much else we can do here now that it's night time."

Naruto nodded and just followed after his best friend. He was slowly starting to feel a little tired from all that food he'd eaten. He didn't regret eating as much as he did at all though. He'd had a helluva time eating with Chouji, and he was looking forward to doing so again in a few days' time. **_'You know gaki; it wouldn't be such a bad thing to think before decidedly stuffing your maw full of food. A little restraint, if you will,'_** Kurama piped in, having witnessed the entire gluttonous display from start to painfully-disgusting finish. Needless to say, it revolted the nine tailed fox somewhat.

'Hey Kurama, how you feeling?' questioned Naruto before he registered what the giant fox had just said. 'And are you implying that I eat too much?' The fox considered the question for a few seconds before it nodded its head quickly. **_'Yes. Yes I am.'_**

Naruto almost lost his balance on the road ahead of him as he followed closely behind Shūhei after hearing the fox's blunt answer. 'Hey, it's not my fault my metabolism works abnormally fast y'know! If I remember correctly, I think you were the one who told me that it was because of **_you_** being sealed inside me that I can eat as much as I want and not have to worry about gaining weight!'

Kurama snickered from within his cage and swished his tails about lazily. Ah, it had been a while since Kurama messed with his jinchuuriki, and he had missed this for the past few days. **_'I think even my influence has a limit gaki. Who knows, you could be picking up a few kilograms in the not too distant future if you're not careful.'_**

Naruto just scoffed inwardly and folded his arms, tuning the beast out and continuing on his way. After walking for a while though, a small smile tugged at his lips. Kurama had been strangely quiet since they got here. It was good to hear him acting like his normal self again.

* * *

_Konohagakure, Hokage's Office, later that night..._

* * *

_KNOCK KNOCK_

The Hokage shifted in his seat slightly and glanced towards the source of the disturbance with expertly veiled annoyance. He supposed he couldn't be too irritated with the intrusion on his small amount of leisure time that he was finally granted after having worked through seemingly endless piles of the curse that befell all Kage alike - the dreaded paperwork. Nonetheless, he was the Hokage, so interruptions were a commonplace during most of his days, but they seemed eerily more pronounced during the only times when he was finally free from work.

He deduced this was Kami at work, taking great pleasure in denying him what little time he could use for himself. Nevertheless, he could still feel the presence behind the door, and it was actually someone he had been expecting, so he couldn't exactly fault them. With a small cough to clear his throat and the slightest of shades of red tinting his cheeks, he placed the orange book that was gripped firmly in his hands into the secret compartment of his age old desk, closing it with a soft click before lacing his fingers together in front of him and adorning his Hokage mask. "Enter."

The door opened with a small click and closed behind the visitor with another, the visitor's footsteps not making the slightest of noises or smallest of creaks on the wooden floor beneath his feet; a true testament to his skill as a shinobi. "Ah, Genma. I've been expecting you," the Hokage said with a small smile, somewhat losing the seriousness he had been exuding before.

The tokubetsu jōnin gave an incline of his head as he stood at attention in front of the Hokage's desk, his senbon uncharacteristically absent from his mouth. "Good evening Hokage-sama. I've come to give my report on the genin team you've assigned me, consisting of Konoha shinobi Shiho, as well as the two Getsugakure shinobi, Shūhei and Uzumaki Naruto."

Sarutobi would've sputtered unceremoniously after hearing that name if he wasn't the Hokage; a shinobi of the highest calibre that had to hold a certain sense of grace and poise in the face of the shinobi under his command. Never let it be said though that the Hokage wasn't surprised by hearing that name; a name not known by any, save a select few who were high enough in the village's hierarchy to be privy to such information, as well as a few special cases who had known before it was deemed such a high class secret.

His face remained emotionless. Only someone who truly knew Hiruzen would've been able to see the briefest flicker of hope, shock, denial; these few emotions playing across his apathetically schooled features. Not wanting to discover whether his voice would betray him or not, the elderly Hokage gave an incline of his head, giving the jōnin the go ahead to continue with his report.

He had never gotten the names of the two foreign genin who were to be under his command for the duration of the Chūnin Exams, but he would've never thought he'd be hearing that name again. He was surprised the jōnin in front of him hadn't recognised the name. Having been a personal guard to the Yondaime Hokage, surely he should've made some kind of connection. Or maybe he had, and was just keeping tight lipped about it. He dispelled the questions and focused back on the jōnin ahead of him.

Genma nodded gratefully and retrieved a manila folder from... somewhere, walking forward and placing it on the desk before taking a few steps back and clearing his throat. "The genin from Konoha, Shiho, has a vast amount of potential, and I believe that her taichou's decision to give her hands on experience in these coming Chūnin Exams was a wise decision. She may be still be a little timid, if even slightly reluctant to fight, but I suspect given enough time with these particular teammates, she can become a splendid kunoichi."

Hiruzen nodded his head and found it within himself to paste a fake smile onto his face; for now at least while he was still in the presence of another shinobi. His mind was still firmly fixed on the presence of one Uzumaki Naruto. "You seem to have quite a lot of faith vested in this girl. I trust your claims are not unfounded?" Hiruzen questioned as he continued to listen to the brown haired shinobi.

"The finer details regarding our team exercise are in that envelope, as are the details regarding each member so far, but from the exercise itself, she has shown proficient skill at using genjutsu as well as an intermediate level of skills in Fūinjutsu; she is a strong strategical thinker and has a knowledgeable level of Doton jutsu, strengthening her role as a support-type all the more."

Hiruzen picked up his pipe and absently placed it in his mouth, chewing on the cusp of the pipe he had used for so many years as he looked over her sheet from the envelope. It was true. She was a skilled kunoichi indeed, but her shy personality was holding her back. Not unlike a certain Hyūga Heiress. He hummed in response and motioned at Genma with the sheet, prompting him to continue.

"The first of the Getsugakure genin, Shūhei, is of the same mind as Shiho in the sense that he's a strategical thinker, if not a little more so," began Genma as he ran through his report to his Hokage. "He's quite proficient at taijutsu, and I believe he has an affinity for Suiton jutsu. He's not a support-type like Shiho per se, but he's not a close range fighter either from what I could gather. He proceeds with caution from a distance, not pulling himself out of the fight but not directly engaging either, waiting for his opponent to make the mistake and leave openings to exploit."

He shook his head in amusement as he thought back to the way they'd almost managed to ensnare him within their clever trap. "The plan that I suspect he and Shiho came up with was tactically sound, and they might even have managed to capture me if not for my affinity in Doton. I'd venture to guess any high chūnin level shinobi would've been hard pressed to remain alive from their constant onslaught."

Hiruzen hummed in amusement as he listened to his subordinate while simultaneously reading the more detailed events from the report contained within the folder. "I see. They seem to have kept you on your toes," the old Hokage half inquired, half stated, his eyes travelling over the contents of the document.

"Nothing I couldn't handle with relative ease, Hokage-sama," Genma added neutrally, his right hand twitching slightly at his pocket to remove his senbon and stick it in his mouth. Fuck! He felt so naked without his senbon dangling casually between his lips as the Hokage debriefed him like this. His senbon was a social clutch, and he knew it, but it was a clutch that he **_really_** needed. And he needed it right now.

Hiruzen nodded and turned the page, continuing on with the report. "I would expect nothing less from one of my predecessor's personal guard. Continue..."

Genma nodded and coughed into his hand a little again, straightening his posture as he continued to try and curb his need for the senbon. "Last but **_most definitely_** not least, is Uzumaki Naruto, the final genin from Getsugakure. He's the most surprising of all, but I guess it's not too much of a stretch considering he claims to be known as 'The Most Unpredictable Ninja' back from his homeland," Genma started, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he thought back to their fight. "He's an obvious close quarter's fighter; his taijutsu is pretty strong, his style somewhat acrobatic and unorthodox... not unlike a mixture of several different styles all rolled into one. Another thing pretty noteworthy is his absurdly large chakra reserves, which are easily quite larger than my own if his use of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**_ was any indication."

He shook his head again and chuckled with a hint of awe laced in his voice. "I've never seen anyone use that technique the way he does. It's almost frightening to think how much chakra he has to be able to use it like he does and not faint from chakra exhaustion. But, getting back on track, he also seems to be quite knowledgeable with his elemental affinity, Fūton, already being able to go so far as to channel his elemental chakra into a pair of trench knives, his weapons of choice."

The Hokage's brow rose interestingly at that, a small hint of curiosity marring his features as he read through the document detailing Naruto's skills, listening intently as Genma went on. "But by far the most interesting thing about him was his speed. It was amazing. He seems to have an uncanny ability with utilising the _Kawarimi no Jutsu_ **(Substitution Technique)**, making liberal use of the technique at incredible speeds. He also has a high speed technique that's been bothering me ever since I saw it," muttered Genma with a frown as his features reflected his emotions for the first time. "It wasn't unlike a _Shunshin __**(Body Flicker)**_, but it wasn't quite the same. It left behind after images, very faint but there nonetheless. I just can't quite place it."

Hiruzen was only half-listening by this point, his eyes fixed firmly on the picture of Naruto himself. 'The same blonde hair, those same azure-blue eyes... his hair might be covered by that bandana, but this boy... is the spitting image of Minato-kun. There is no question about it. This boy... is Minato-kun's son... But how he ended up in Tsuki no Kuni is most puzzling.' The wizened Hokage chewed on his pipe a little more enthusiastically as he attempted to find the answer to that question. It really was a mystery.

Genma stared at the old Hokage thoughtfully for a few seconds, watching as the man stared intently at the picture of Uzumaki Naruto. 'Does he know about...?' Genma's expression suddenly became serious as he watched the Sandaime. 'Until I can confirm this with Kakashi as well as Jiraiya-sama, I mustn't say anything.'

It wasn't that he didn't trust his Hokage; he just didn't know what the man's motives were. Genma's allegiances were to the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and now that his offspring was on his team, he was going to do everything in his power to help out his kid. He owed Minato more than he could ever repay, and he'd be damned if he let his son be roped into something he didn't want to be roped into.

Until he could speak with Kakashi and Jiraiya, he'd need to try and discreetly figure out the Hokage's motives, as well as keep a watchful eye out for the old war hawk Shimura Danzo. He wasn't sure what lengths the man would go to in order to get his hands on the Yondaime Hokage's son, as well as a jinchūriki for that matter if his guesses about Naruto were correct, and he really didn't want to find out.

* * *

_**Jutsu List:**_

* * *

_Magen: Jigoku Kōka no Jutsu __**(Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Technique)**_

The **Demonic Illusion: Descending Hell Technique** causes the illusion of a tremendous ball of fire falling from the sky into a designated area. The targets involved in the illusion literaly feel the ball's hot temperature getting closer.

_Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu __**(Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)**_

The **Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique** creates a volley of small fireballs, which are sent flying in an unpredictable manner assaulting the enemy. In addition, the flames are controlled one by one with chakra, so avoiding them all is extremely difficult.

_Doton: Dorō__Dōmo __**(Earth Release: Earth Dome)**_

**Earth Release: Earth Dome** allows the user to create a dome constructed from the earth that can protect them from external attacks. As seen above, it can also be used to trap someone on the insde, provided they aren't skilled Doton users themselves.

_Doton: Doryū__Taiga __**(Earth Release: Earth Flow River)**_

After forming the needed hand seal for **Earth Release: Earth Flow River**, the user transforms the ground underneath their opponent into a river of mud that throws them off balance and away from the user. The mud created by this technique can also be used as a medium for other Earth Release techniques.

_Doton: Doro Sherukēsu __**(Earth Release: Mud Shell Casing)**_

After forming the needed hand seals for **Earth Release: Mud Shell Casing**, the user can manipulate the mud previously created by Earth Release: Earth Flow River and ensare the enemy within a casing made of mud, which can either be hardened to that of rock, or kept in its muddy state, depending on the user's wishes. The victims arms are forced out to their side, with all their fingers being separated by the mud to prevent the use of jutsus.

_Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu __**(Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)**_

The **Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique** changes earth into fine sand by channelling chakra into it, allowing the user to dig through it like a mole. This effect goes around the body (not just the hands), making it just large enough for a person to move through.

* * *

_**AN: Well, here's the latest chapter guys, I hope you enjoyed it. My writing of fight scenes isn't that great - yet, but I'm trying to get better - so let me know what you thought of the fight scene, the advice and tips are always welcome.**_

_**Otherwise, nothing else on my side, till nex time...**_


	8. New Faces

**_AN: Hey guys, how's everybody doing? I had actually forgotten about updating, should've / could've probably been about 2 or 3 days earlier, but what's done is done... or not done, whatever. Univ work has been keeping me quite busy in the new semester, but I was bored tonight, sitting in my bed with a laptop, so I figured it was time for that update. Here's the next chapter, not too much action, can't have all the chapters action packed with... well, with action :D_**

**_But first, reviews..._**

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danilek12 - Hey buddy, thanks for the review, and glad you liked it :) I tried my best to keep it different, so I'm glad it meets your expectations :D Read the nwe chappy and let me know what you think, eagerly awaiting your feedback.

Yana5 - Hey Yana, glad you like the story :D Hope the update didn't take too long, but other than that, let me know how you find the next chapter ;)

anarion87 - Thanks for the review mate, keep reading and let me know how you find it :)

butterflypuss - Thanks mate, hope this one isn't too boring, but let me know what you thin of it. I'll be waiting... :D

RandomWriter21 - Ooh, we'll just have to see, won't we =) And thanks by the way, glad you enjoyed it so far, keep reading and let me know if I keep the standards up to par... enjoy the chappy, hope this one's as enjoyable as the rest have been so far :)

LordHero - Thanks mate, good to know that I'm not moving things too quickly or slowly. That was one of my main concerns. And the Chunin Exams aren't too far away, so keep your fingers crossed :D Good to know my fight scene wasn't too bad, they're not my forte, so I was't sure how it would play out, but glad it came out all thanks for the comment and review mate, hope you enjoy the chapter :) It's always a pleasure.

Ougley - ... No problem =) Thanks for the review, hope to hear more from you soon :)

magikiz2sick - Hey buddy, thanks for the compliment, and I'm glad you like the story. I'm glad people are finding this one nice and interesting, and hope you enjoy the chapter :D Let me know mate, thanks =)

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**_Now that those are out of the way (not that I don't enjoy replying to you guys, I do, really. It's good to keep in touch with the readers), I'll let you guys continue on to the chapter. As I said already, let me know how you guys find it, little bit of a slower chapter I think, but I feel I did a good job with it :)_**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 8: New Faces_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Konohagakure__, Training Ground 3, the next day..._

* * *

"So, *yawn*, what's on the agenda for today Genma-sensei?" asked Naruto as he muffled his yawn with his hand and watched as his sensei leaned up against the centre training post, his senbon rolling around aimlessly in his mouth.

"Well, for the first part of the morning, I just wanted to talk about yesterday's exercise." He watched them all give him a nod of the head and took that as his cue to carry on. "First of all, you guys came up with a pretty good strategy. You almost caught me with it too, so I wanna know which one of you was the one to devise it."

He waited a bit before Shūhei and Shiho raised their hands, the latter a little more timidly than what she would've liked. Genma nodded his head at that information. "I had surmised as much. So, it seems we've got two brains on this team, which is always good. Two heads are, more often than not, better than one," he said as the two strategists beamed at the praise. "And no Naruto, I'm not implying that you're not smart, they're just the more strategical thinkers," Genma answered Naruto's inevitable question, if the somewhat grumbling expression on the blonde's face was any indication as to what he was about to ask.

"Okay, getting that out of the way; Shūhei, you're a Suiton user and I assume that that is your only affinity at the moment?" questioned Genma, receiving an affirming nod from the young brunette. "The same for you Shiho; I assume your only affinity is Doton?"

Another nod was his answer, so he turned to his whiskered student who was grinning happily as he'd come to realise was the normal disposition of the blonde boy. "Oh, I can see you're about ready to start bouncing off the trees, so I'll try and speed through the rest of this. Your only affinity is Fūton, correct?"

Receiving an enthusiastic affirmative from the blonde, he gave a satisfied nod and rolled his senbon around a few more times. 'So, now that I'm positive on their affinities, I can start training them a bit. We still have exactly a month and three days left before the Chūnin Exams start; not enough time to start them on anything new, but...'

He looked his genin all in the eyes and in a moment of seriousness began to explain a few things regarding the Chūnin Exams. "We still have the required C-rank as well as 8 D-rank missions to complete, or alternatively two C-rank missions, so in my opinion, I suggest we use this first week for training to improve upon your already **_outstanding_** teamwork, before we quickly complete the required missions and use any remaining time after that for training again," he relayed, his sarcasm drifting into his explanation for but a second before he reigned it in and continued seriously.

"We don't have nearly enough time to start you guys off on anything new; maybe at the least I could give you guys a new jutsu each to work on for the coming month for your affinities; otherwise, instead of training to try and cover up any individual weaknesses we might find during our time as a team, I was planning to improve upon your strengths instead to try and circumvent your weaknesses. Your teamwork should play a vital role in that department."

The genin nodded their heads to signify their understanding and Genma retrained his face into his usual smirk. "So, for now, we'll do a little bit of physical conditioning until midday, then after that we can have a little taijutsu practice and be done for the day." His genin nodded once again and began stretching, Naruto obviously more animatedly than the rest due to his boundless energy reserves. "Later tonight when you guys get home, I want you to write down your strengths and weaknesses on a piece of paper and bring it to me the next morning. That'll allow me to come up with the best way on how to spend our training sessions. And don't worry, I'll be the only one seeing these pages, so be as detailed as you like."

"You got it sensei!" chirped Naruto loudly as he stretched his groins, sitting on the ground and bringing his feet, sole-to-sole, together as close to his body as he could and holding them there. He was full of energy and he was fresh. Nothing his sensei could put them through now would be able to put a damper on this great day.

XxX

"Ugh, I really need to learn not to tempt fate," Naruto groaned tiredly as he and Shūhei trudged slowly towards their destination, which just so happened to be the hot springs. Their bodies were incredibly sore, and they were constantly reminded of the physical training Genma-sensei had put them through earlier by the burning pains in most all of their muscles. This led them to heading over to the hot springs to try and soothe said aching muscles.

Shūhei turned his eyes to glare at Naruto and flicked him upside the head as they slowly continued along the path, getting the odd incline of the head from a passing stranger. "You tempted fate?!" Shūhei asked incredulously, somehow finding the energy to wave his arms about wildly. "... Again?! How many times have we talked about you tempting fate?" Shūhei asked as he feigned crying, throwing his head in his hand as he whimpered along. "Now it all makes sense. Now at least I understand **_why_** Genma-sensei worked us like this. You're the reason that it managed to **_snow_** in Tsuki no Kuni, remember?"

Naruto had the decency to look sheepish at first, conceding to the fact that he had tempted fate once again. But he drew the line for the second accusation though, a frown quickly marring his features. "Hey, we both know that that was a once in a lifetime phenomenon! My tempting of fate had nothing to do with that," he huffed childishly and folded his arms while turning away with a small pout. "It was purely coincidental."

Shūhei just scoffed and continued along the path, deciding to rather not rise to the comment. He was way too low on energy, and even though his Uzumaki friend was tired as well, the blonde still had more than enough to continue with this somewhat pointless argument. So he wisely opted to remain quiet.

He'd come to realise that that was one of the best counters he had to the blonde's never ending energy reserves. If it ever came to a battle of attrition, the blonde would undoubtedly win. With nothing else but the soothing waters of the hot springs now on his mind, he returned to his usual neutral expression and moved along at a quicker pace. 'I could use the relaxation now more than ever.'

It wasn't long before they reached the area outside the hot springs, and much to Naruto's grudging disappointment, it seemed that the hot spring was not of the mixed bathing kind. He was by no measure of the word a pervert, but being an adolescent teenager whose hormones were beginning to turn his mind to the fairer sex, he was understandably disappointed.

He couldn't really understand it, but there was just something so fascinating about breasts. Sure when he was younger he'd seen them on women before, but they had a decidedly different appeal to them now. Something which his primal instincts as a male demanded he attempt to explore further.

At least, he noted with a little hope, that the entrance to the male's and female's respective changing rooms were not connected to the actual separate springs, so there was always that miniscule chance that he'd catch a small glimpse. **_'Pervert and you know it,'_** came the quick interjection of his furry friend from within his mind.

Naruto shrugged off his clothes in the changing rooms and neatly folded them up in a pile, taking off his bandana and his hitai-ate, as well as his blue Konoha wrist band, and laying them down on top of his clothes. 'You say pervert like it's a bad thing Kurama,' he answered with a cheeky grin before snorting in his mind as he wrapped a small towel around his waist. 'Besides, we both know I'm not a pervert. I'm a teenager y'know! That's all the excuse I need,' Naruto answered defiantly before blowing a few stray bangs of blonde hair out of his eyes.

**_'You know gaki; denial is a very common human defence mechanism tha-...'_** Anything else Kurama was going to say was promptly cut off as Naruto cut their mental link, leaving Kurama to snicker to himself in the recesses of his host's mind. 'Damn fur ball starting to take liberties,' Naruto muttered as he walked out the change rooms and stood outside against the wall, blowing another bang out of his face. "Hey Shūhei, sometime today already!" the blonde shouted back, huffing irritably as the paining in the soles of his feet persisted. 'I really wanna get into that hot spri-...'

"Eep!" Naruto's thoughts were cut short as a soft but high pitched shriek caught his ears, his eyes darting left and right as he looked for the source. He heard a small rattle of wood near the curtain that was covering the woman's change room and started walking towards the barrier, the echoes of his bare feet slapping against the stone floor the only sound filling his ears as he followed the noise he'd heard.

But just as he was about to round the corner, a whistle from his brunette friend caught his attention and he whirled on his feet with a relieved sigh. "Finally... all right, all right Shūhei. I'm coming damn it! Stop with your whistling already..." he yelled as his voice slowly faded away with his and his friend's departure into the men's side of the springs, leaving the changing room area silent once again.

But from behind the corner where Naruto had just been about to round, a soft sigh of relief echoed throughout the area as the form of a heavily-breathing young woman stood with her back pressed tightly against the wall. She had fair skin and short dark blue hair with two bangs framing her face, and the veins around her lavender-tinged pupilless white eyes were bulging out quite prominently. Her cheeks were touched with a deep shade of red, a small line of blood running down her nose as her wide eyes stared directly ahead of her. At least, that's what it would like to an onlooker unfamiliar with the Hyūga Clan and their famed Doujutsu **(Eye Techniques)**...

* * *

_Konohagakure__ Hot Springs, moments earlier..._

* * *

Hyūga Hinata, the first born child of Hyūga Hiashi as well as rightful heiress of the Hyūga Clan - take note of 'rightful' heiress – was a notably timid girl, a trait she inherited from her late mother who had died some time ago after giving birth to Hinata's sister. The relationship she shared with her father after the death of her mother had become severely strained, and the already low-on-confidence Hyūga heiress receded even further within her shell. However, thanks to the efforts of her team sensei and pseudo-big sister Yūhi Kurenai, she had begun to find her way again.

Her sensei being the reason she found herself inside the woman's change rooms of Konoha's hot springs today. Kurenai-sensei had suggested that she come to the hot springs with her today, to relax and to spend some time with the red-eyed genjutsu mistress of Konoha outside of actual shinobi duties; something she was extremely grateful for.

She really enjoyed the time she spent with her sensei. It had been quite difficult for her to cope as a child after having a mother and then not having one so suddenly. Her sister wasn't really affected by it, not having been old enough to know her anyway. But after Kurenai-sensei had begun to take a more active role in her life, she had become infinitely happier.

It was truly only her father, sister and members of the Hyūga Clan's council that she had strained relations with. She was actually well liked among the branch family, always acting kindly towards them and never treating them as lesser beings because of the curse marks they bared. But her relationship with her father and sister, a relationship which stemmed from her weakness as a fighter, kept her from spending too much time at the Hyūga Clan's compound, so although she was familiar with her uncle Hizashi and cousin Neji, she didn't have as strong a connection with them as what she would've hoped.

She shook her head of the negative train of thoughts her mind had taken to wandering to and wrapped a towel around her maturing body, placing her hitai-ate neatly above her pile of clothes. With a quick nod, she turned on her heel and made for the exit to the change rooms, dipping her head around the curtain and turning the corner, only for her eyes to shoot as wide as saucers, letting out a soft but high-pitched 'Eep!' as she pushed herself as close to the wall as possible, hoping to remain unseen.

Her heart was beating rapidly against her chest, with her breathing a little heavy but not terribly loud. She had just caught a glimpse of the most handsome boy she'd ever had the opportunity of looking at. He had spiky blonde hair that was slightly unruly, hanging over his forehead and eyes a little as he blew a stray bang out of his eyes – his beautiful cerulean blue eyes. There were these three markings on each of his cheeks, markings that were reminiscent of whiskers she noted quickly. They were kind of cute and gave him an almost exotic look. Her heart thumped in her ears louder as she thought of the boy, and she had to get one more look.

She brought her hands into the ram seal and focused her chakra before her eyes bulged and the veins around her eyes became more prominent. 'Byakugan!' Before she really thought about what she was doing, her eyes widened again and she slapped her left hand over her mouth to stifle her quick intake of breath, a small trail of blood leaking out her nose. But then her heart rate started to quicken as she noticed he was moving towards her. He was getting closer, and he seemed to be trying to look around the corner, but she couldn't for the life of her find it in her muscles to move. She just pressed herself further into the wall and watched as the inevitable meeting between them was about to take place.

In a relieving turn of events, a friend of the blonde caught his attention with a whistle, and in the next second, he was gone, leaving Hinata to breathe out a sigh of relief as she sunk to her knees and stayed there for a few seconds. Eventually though she pulled herself together and wiped the blood from her nose with a small piece of toilet paper before quickly ducking into the women's side of the springs to avoid any further possible confrontation.

XxX

"Oh, there you are Hinata-chan. I was beginning to wonder where you'd gone off to..." Kurenai begin, only to trail off as she noticed the slightly dazed look of her student and the tinted red cheeks as she stumbled carelessly into the hot springs, towel and all. "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata just looked at her sensei and gave a small giggle with her hand in front of her mouth, a tiny amount of blood seeping out of her nose again. Kurenai would've been more affronted by the obvious indication of what this meant, but she knew Hinata, and Hinata was no pervert. 'It must have just been an accident then,' the jōnin surmised, nodding to herself and settling back into the soothing waters. 'Ah, there's nothing like the soothing waters of the hot springs...'

* * *

_Konohagakure__, random villager's backyard, two days later..._

* * *

It was just passed midday, with the sun's broiling hot rays beating down upon the village and its inhabitants unrelentingly. This made the job of weeding a garden that much more difficult for the group of young genin that were operating under the supervision of their sensei Genma. This was not the case, however, for said sensei, as he sat lazily under the shade of the only tree in the garden with one thought on his mind: 'Oh, becoming a jōnin sensei was **_so_** worth it.'

Genma peered over the glass of ice cold water that was casually resting on his bottom lip, giving the garden and the sweaty genin a once over as he tipped the glass ever so slightly at a sedate pace, letting the water trickle through his mouth and down his throat placidly. "Keep at it guys. Lot of energy, lot of focus," he muttered slowly, almost drawled out in as lazily a manner as he possibly could, fighting hard to keep a smirk from surfacing on his face. This was just too precious.

Shūhei looked up from his position on the ground, his face set into a loathsome scowl as he glared at the form of his shade-covered sensei. "I'm glad you find this so funny, Genma-sensei," he growled, wiping at his brow to rid himself of the lingering dirt and sweat that was accumulating there. "We'll find a way to make you pay for this. Mark my words."

Genma did let his smirk show this time and even let loose a small chuckle as he drained a nice, long sip of his water. "Ah, your threats are about as empty as..." he paused for several seconds to drain the rest of his glass in one go, letting out an exaggerated sigh as he dangled the glass in front of his face and licked his lips appreciatively. "... are about as empty as this glass," he finished with a content sigh, relishing in the trace amounts of killing intent that were wafting off his brunette student.

Shūhei slowly brought his hands up as he prepared to start going through hand seals, but Genma caught him out the corner of his eye and wagged his finger chidingly at his student. "Ah ah ah Shūhei. We wouldn't want to destroy the client's property now would we?" he asked in obvious rhetoric. "Worse comes to worse, you'll have to pay for the damage out of your own pocket. And I know you wouldn't want that..."

Shūhei blanched slightly at that and slowly lowered his head, muttering a colourful string of profanities under his breath. "Fuck! Damn you sensei," he said lowly, though there was no real malice behind it. More just extreme irritation and undeniable annoyance. "Fuck..."

Shiho was being her normal quiet self Genma noted with a cursory glance sent in her direction, the girl clearly bothered by the physical work but weathering it well nonetheless. But the uncharacteristically quiet blonde ball of energy to her left was beginning to worry him. He had been quite vocal in his protests about doing another day of D-ranks after the four that they had completed the day before, but that was nothing unexpected from what he'd come to know of the boy. When he didn't like something, he would make it known.

No, it was this silence; this scary silence that was shouting at him, yelling at him, grabbing for his attention; trying to tell him that there was something wrong, that something bad was going to happen to him. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

'Maybe I'm starting to get paranoid,' he thought quickly, replacing his senbon in his mouth and watching the blonde's back. It was a little disconcerting to have a student who was still known as 'The Most Unpredictable Ninja'. You never knew what he'd do next, and the blonde maverick seemed to like keeping it that way. 'Oh well, if it's my time, it's my time,' he thought with a shrug, leaning back down against the trunk of wood under the protective shade of the tree's leaves.

But Genma couldn't be further from the truth. In actuality, the blonde was just as deep in thought as the jōnin was, his mind racing over something he'd been told by his tenant some time ago. 'Y'know, I've been thinking Kurama-...' started Naruto as he stared off at the weeds in front of him, only to be quickly interrupted by his tenant.**_ 'That's dangerous,'_** the fox bellowed, snickering at the twitching eye of his host. 'I'm being serious here y'know! It's about how I came to be your jinchūriki...'

The fox was immediately quiet, his tails swaying aimlessly behind him as he sat up a little straighter, his face becoming slightly more serious. **_'Go on then.'_** Naruto nodded and continued to pluck out a weed that was giving him a bit of a hard time while looking inwards toward his mindscape. 'You said that me being sealed into you had something to do with Konoha. How is that?' he questioned softly, managing to finally rip the weed from the ground and chucking it onto the pile with the rest of the pulled weeds.

The fox remained still, his eyes focused forward as he thought long and hard how to answer that question without revealing too much. There wasn't any reason to reveal certain things that had happened **_that_** night. Not yet at least. He could remember the masked man. The man that had taken control of him with those cursed eyes and summoned him to wreck havoc upon Konohagakure no Sato.

But Naruto didn't need to know that did he? Nobody knew about the fox, about its location or whereabouts. Best case scenario, everyone would think him dead, defeated by the Yondaime Hokage in a massive battle, never to be seen again for give or take ten years until he was once again revived. But he couldn't just leave his host with nothing at all. They were... friends after all, the words sounding totally alien to him. They were, weren't they? Or that's what the blonde said at least, Kurama couldn't be sure of these human emotions.

Kurama sighed and rested his head on his hands, closing his eyes as he prepared for the onslaught of questions that was sure to follow. **_'I take it you have not heard of the tragedy twelve years ago that took place here in Konohagakure_**_**?'**_ Feeling a shake of the head from his host, he let out another breath of air before steeling himself for a conversation that was bound to have happened sooner or later.

**_'Twelve years ago, during the point when my previous jinchūriki's seal was at its weakest, I was forcibly removed from my host and controlled by a powerful genjutsu. While under the influence of the genjutsu, I was set upon Konoha, whereby I reduced most of the village to rubble. As fate would have it though, the Yondaime Hokage would arrive just in time to seal me up into my next host, which just so happened to be you, Naruto.'_**

Naruto listened to Kurama's retelling of the story, his head nodding absently throughout the story as he continued to weed his section of the garden, looking like a mentally deranged individual from an onlooker who wouldn't know he was conversing with someone. 'So why did the Yondaime Hokage decide to seal you inside of me? And why was I even in Konoha, aren't I from Tsuki no Kuni? And who was your previous jinchūriki?'

Kurama just ignored the blonde and continued to keep his eyes closed, preparing to go to sleep and avoid his jinchūriki for as long as possible. He didn't like to talk about the things he'd done in the past. **_'I have already revealed to you more than you ought to know. Now leave me be gaki, I'm going for a nap.'_** And with that, he forcibly disconnected himself from their mental link, leaving Naruto to his thoughts once more.

'I guess he's had a pretty rough past then. I don't blame him for not wanting to tell me though. I doubt I'd want to talk about those kinds of things either. Guess I'll just have to wait until he's ready to talk,' Naruto thought with a shrug, going back to weeding the garden with all the energy he was known for having and deciding not to bother the fox with it again.

That subject always seemed to hit a sore spot, most probably some old wounds that never really had the time to heal. Whatever it was, it only further increased Naruto's curiosity though. He wasn't a dick however, so he vowed not to be the one to instigate a conversation on the subject again. 'What I still don't understand though is why the fuck was I in Konoha?!'

XxX

It had been a long day for Naruto, but they had finished their total eight required D-rank missions, now they just had a C-rank left, and then they'd be eligible for participation in the Chūnin Exams. Genma had hinted that they were going to get a C-rank tomorrow some time, but that was neither here nor there. If they got it tomorrow, they got it, and if they didn't, they'd get it the following day. Genma had said that he wanted to complete their missions as soon as possible so that they could use the rest of their time for training, so at the least they'd be getting that C-rank within the next two days, that much was certain.

With Naruto's schedule finally freed up a bit, he decided that it was time to take a little break, and without needing time to think about it, had told Shūhei that he'd be going for a walk. He hadn't really had a chance to walk around the village yet, what with the draining physical training that Genma was putting them through and the D-ranks as well. So, naturally, his feet took him to the only place he really knew – the top of the Hokage Monument.

He plopped down on top of the Yondaime's head, not even taking note of that fact as he wiggled his rear around on the stone's head to get more comfortable. He settled down with his hands holding him up from behind as he stared ahead at the entirety of Konohagakure, the village itself bathing in the darker orange hue of the setting sun. The streets were starting to die down with activity, store clerks closing up shop and readying themselves for heading on home, several elderly making their last minute run-ins at the stores. To sum it up, the village simply looked...

"It looks beautiful, doesn't it?" came the deep voice of someone unknown from behind Naruto, the blonde's mind still scrambling for that particular word he was looking for.

But it seemed that the stranger that he hadn't even sensed had taken the words right out of his mouth, so he settled for a simple nod of the head, hiding his surprise and fear at being snuck up on behind the conversation, trying to keep as calm as possible. "Yeah, it is. It's so peaceful. As I've said to a friend before, my island that I come from is extremely beautiful, but Konoha is a different kind of beautiful."

The stranger was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again. "Ah, and where might that be?"

Naruto allowed a genuine smile to form on his face as the image of his homeland fluttered into his mind. "Back in Tsuki no Kuni," he answered casually, turning his head behind him to get a look at his surprise visitor. His eyes widened in surprise though as he realised who it was he was casually conversing with, and he jumped to his feet in momentary shock, not sure whether to be bowing his head or not. "H-Hokage-sama! I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you y'know! I didn't mean to be sitting on your monument, but it's just-..."

The Hokage held up a hand to silence the blonde's ramblings, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he got a good look at the frazzled boy, no... young man. "Don't fret Naruto-kun, it's quite all right. You have nothing to apologise for." He chuckled lightly again before he did a double take at the blonde's response. 'Y'know? There really is no doubt that he is Kushina-chan's child...'

Naruto's body visibly relaxed somewhat, although he was still pretty on edge and visibly shaken from having been snuck up on by the Sandaime Hokage of all people. His eyes widened again though as his mind finally processed what the Hokage had said, and he stared at the old man in surprise. "Y-you know my name?"

Hiruzen chuckled lightly at that as he stepped forward, standing a little in front of Naruto with his gaze trained over the contents of Konoha's walls. "It is my job as the Hokage to always know who is doing what inside of this village. I wouldn't be a very good leader if I didn't take an active role in the lives of my people, correct?"

Naruto just nodded dumbly at the Hokage's roundabout answer, his eyes glazed over somewhat with his mouth hanging slightly ajar. 'The Sandaime Hokage knows my name... go figure.' He didn't trust his voice to not betray him at this point in time, so he instead just waited for the Hokage to hopefully initiate the conversation again and end this somewhat awkward silence.

He didn't however, and the silence that ensued after was almost deafening, and Naruto was slowly starting to get fidgety. With the Hokage standing literally a metre away from him, he felt like he couldn't really do anything without it being silently judged by the Shinobi no Kami **(God of Shinobi)**.

Naruto gathered what little nerve he had and rose back onto his feet courageously; bowing slightly to the man that had the power to end his life in a second should he so wish. Naruto highly doubted he'd do that though, but still, it was pretty scary. "Um, I apologise Hokage-sama, but it's getting late and I need to return to my quarters," he expressed in an uncharacteristically formal manner, the words not feeling quite right as they left his mouth. He felt that they were necessary however, especially in the presence of a man who could most likely be the strongest shinobi in the elemental nations at the moment.

Hiruzen just continued to stare out across the village however, his eyes trailing over the forms of all of his villagers and shinobi as they slowly started disappearing, the many inhabitants of the village finally beginning to turn in for the day.

Naruto, taking that as his cue to leave, took off in as fast a shunshin as he could, lacing his wind natured chakra into the technique and disappearing in a wisp of air, hoping to get away from the man's intimidating aura as quickly as possible. Naruto felt like if he had to have breathed incorrectly, the Hokage would've unleashed his wrath upon him.

Being an old man however, he gave off a kind of grand-fatherly demeanour, but his reputation as a God among shinobi was more well known throughout the entire elemental nations as opposed to his reputation as a kind grandfather, so Naruto just couldn't bring himself to not feel slightly overwhelmed when the man was standing a mere foot away from him.

As the blonde departed his spot atop the Hokage monument, Hiruzen couldn't help the forlorn look that was etched across his visage as he remained in his standing position. 'It would seem that you have grown up well Naruto-kun. I can't deny that I'm saddened to see you donning the hitai-ate of a foreign village, with your heritage being one of great importance in this village. However, your happiness is what comes first, and it seems that you truly are happy.'

The old Hokage looked up into the orangey skies, taking great solace in the small breeze that tickled his face as he let out a small breath of air. 'Without anyone being aware of your burden, I can imagine that your life was spared a great loneliness that follows all jinchūriki. A loneliness that would've no doubt encompassed the entirety of your life had you remained in this village.'

He was reluctant to admit it, but he was sure that the people of this village would've ignorantly treated the boy with scorn and disdain, regarding his life as nothing more than garbage. It was a horrible realisation, but it was the truth, and it was this thought that lead to Sarutobi feeling a small amount of the guilt that was weighing on his shoulders lift ever so slightly. The thought that the young teen had probably lead a pretty happy life thus far was quite reassuring.

The boy seemed to be slightly wary of him though, so he would have to get Genma to report back to him as often as possible so that he could find out more about the blonde. If he had a family, Hiruzen wanted more than anything to thank them personally for doing such a great job at raising Naruto. He looked healthy, and his strength as a shinobi seemed quite definite as well. 'I imagine that that was the speed technique Genma was referring to when we spoke about Naruto-kun's skills,' he mused thoughtfully before motioning for one of his nearby Anbu.

A young woman with long, straight purple hair, donning the standard grey and black armour of the Anbu materialised in a kneeling position beside the Hokage, her face covered with a mask resembling a cat with three red stripes on the mask. "Your orders Hokage-sama?"

"Follow the boy and ensure his safety," he said simply, a quick 'Hai Hokage-sama' being muttered by the Anbu before she had disappeared again, once more leaving the Hokage to his thoughts. 'If Naruto-kun becomes a chūnin, then as per Minato's request, he will be within his right to claim everything that is rightfully his by heritage. Once that is done, I can finally rest easy knowing that at the least, Minato-kun and Kushina-chan's request to look after their son was taken care of.'

He turned back to the village, a solemn expression on his face as he gazed in the direction he could vaguely feel Naruto's chakra. 'Until that time comes however, Naruto's heritage must remain secret, for his sake, and mine.'

* * *

_Konohagakure__, Naruto's room, early morning..._

* * *

Naruto's eyes gently fluttered open as he woke from his peaceful slumber to the rhythmic sound of rain drumming against his window. Slowly rubbing out the sleep that had gathered in the corners of his eyes, he softly pulled back the curtain to the window that was perpendicular to his bed and watched as the drops of water that were overshadowed by the dark grey rain clouds made contact with the translucent barrier of his apartment.

A few drops would slowly roll down the length of the glass, connecting with other drops of water and increasing the size of the tear as it slid down the window ever faster. He didn't know how long he just laid there in his bed and stared out at the falling water, but the sound was pleasantly familiar, almost sounding just like his pellet drum that was safely tucked away under his bed back in Tsuki no Kuni. 'It's so relaxing...'

With a quick glance to his right, he spied the form of his still-sleeping friend Shūhei as he snored softly into his pillow. Looking a little further to his right, the dim light of the digital clock on their shared bed side table read that the time was only '05:37'.

Turning back to the window and taking one last look at the falling water, he reluctantly threw his legs out the side of the warmth of his bed and hopped out onto the icy-cold wooden floor boards without even so much as a creek, stretching out his arms and back with the soft sounds of bones being clicked into place.

With a content sigh and a small yawn, he silently walked to the bathroom and hopped into the shower for no more than a couple of minutes, the cool water doing a great job of waking him up. He was dressed back in his normal shinobi attire in a matter of seconds, his bandana quickly being fastened to his head to keep his blonde locks under control. 'Damn it! Why do they always have to jut out like this?!' It was like this every morning, and no matter what he tried it always tended to stick straight up anyway. **_'*yawn*... Hey gaki, could you keep it down? I'm trying to sleep here!'_** it suddenly roared, causing Naruto to almost lose his balance as the loud bellow from the fox within his mind reverberated through his head.

'Geez Kurama, who pissed in your cereal?' Naruto asked with feigned ignorance, a smile cracking at his lips as he quickly fastened his hitai-ate to his bicep. A low guttural growl escaped the fox's mouth, his teeth bared in barely contained annoyance. **_'It was a long night for me gaki, and I'm really not in the mood for our usual back-and-forth. So please, for the love of all that is holy, leave me to my slumber...'_** The edge to his voice was slightly intimidating, although it was nothing Naruto couldn't take from the overgrown fur ball. His friend sounded genuinely exhausted though, so Naruto wisely decided to let him off the hook for now. There'd be plenty more time to annoy the hell out of him later.

'Sure, no problem.' He cut off their mental link and decided to refrain from reengaging it until later that day. If Kurama wanted to get some sleep, then he'd let him sleep. He knew that if he was tired he'd want the same. He idly wondered if perhaps it was because of the direction their conversation had gone in the previous day during their D-rank. The fox genuinely seemed to despise the subject, and his reluctance to tell Naruto about it gave him pause. There was definitely something that Kurama wasn't telling him, but despite his best efforts at insisting he wouldn't pry, his curiosity was slowly getting the better of him.

He quickly threw those thoughts away for later and ducked out the bathroom, heading for the small kitchen of their apartment as quietly as possible, careful not to wake his sleeping brunette of a friend. As much as he wanted to wake Shūhei up prematurely and relish in his confusion and annoyance at being woken up two hours ahead of the alarm, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Was he going soft perhaps?

No, that wasn't it. They were most likely going to be going on their big mission today, their first C-rank, so he didn't want to cause any tension between himself and his teammate right before they'd need to be working together to watch each other's backs. As much as he knew that his friend would save his life should the need arise, he'd rather not give Shūhei even the **_slightest_** reason to want to belay that thought for even a split second.

With that possibly fatal disaster averted, he moved over to the fridge and pried its door open, a smile on his face as he readied himself for breakfast... only for his face to fall into a horror-struck look as he was greeted with the sight of an empty fridge. Naruto's eyes quickly darted left to the nearest cupboard and he flung the wooden door open, the same sight greeting his eyes.

Complete and utter emptiness. It was the same for every cupboard that he threw open, the same state of nothingness being contained within each cabinet. A deep and dank feeling erupted in the pit of his stomach, his world slowly distorting as the severity of his current predicament became all too real...

"Where the **_fuck_** is all the food?!" His voice was a harsh whisper, but his entire mood had just taken a turn for the worst. His world was crumbling around him, the walls closing in, moving ever closer as his claustrophobia set in-... 'Wait, I don't have claustrophobia.'

As the world around him suddenly shattered and returned to normal, his stomach let off a deep growl, the organ not seeming to like the current situation any more than the blonde himself. With a grudging sigh, he resigned himself to having to go outside into the cold and fetch some food for their apartment. Damn, why did he always have to mature up and be the responsible one? Kurama surely would've scoffed at that had he not decided to call in sick today.

Nevertheless, with one more quick check to make sure that his friend was still snoring away and leaving a small note on the kitchen counter, he grabbed his key and let himself out, locking the door behind himself as the cold swept over his form, goose bumps running up and down his body instantly. "Holy **_sh-sh-shit_**, it's cold!" Indeed it was. There was a small amount of roof overhanging the doors to each apartment in the complex the Getsugakure genin were staying at, but that didn't by any means keep out the cold. At best, it managed to delay the time it would be taking for the blonde to get pelted by the rain. As peaceful as the rain was to listen to from the confines of his warm bed, it was a completely different thing when experiencing it under the rainfall itself.

His stomach growled loudly again as a hand absently rubbed at his belly, his reason for embarking on this trip making itself known once again. He clenched his fist and his determination burned brightly once again. He couldn't cop out now. They needed food. The responsibility was falling on his shoulders to acquire the sustenance that they required to survive. A little serious, maybe, but then again, when it came to food, it could never be serious enough. "And there's no way I'm gonna fuckin' starve to death when my life as a shinobi just started!"

With his resolve burning brightly in his azure blue eyes, he brought his hands into the ram seal and focused his chakra, delving into the depths of his being and drawing out his wind natured chakra, layering it over himself as he used his signature _Fūton: Shunshin __**(Wind Release: Body Flicker)**_. In all honesty, it didn't do much at staving off the piercing cold, but as he slowly popped his hand out into the rain-filled air, he noticed with surprise how the rain was affecting his wind armour. The water would fall normally and strike his layer of wind chakra, but then it seemed to almost hang in limbo for a second, floating awkwardly just above the sheath of wind before it shot off to the side and away from the blonde.

He stepped out into the rain with his whole body and noted that he wasn't being hit by the water whatsoever. His eyes glinted gleefully and his grin split his face in excitement. "Not even mother nature can touch me like this!" he exclaimed cockily, raising his foot as he readied himself to shoot off in a direction that would hopefully lead to a store.

But just as his foot made contact with the ground, a loud clap of thunder rang out and the rain battered down upon the village with renewed vigour, pieces of ice joining in with the rain as hail showered down onto the blonde, his thin layer of wind doing absolutely jack shit to stop the icy pellets.

Naruto's ego was promptly squashed as fate reared its ugly head, making itself known as it once again managed to quell his moment of prideful boasting. "Damn tempting of fate..." he muttered annoyingly, his expression turning sour as the water dripped down his face. He was just glad that Shūhei wasn't here to rub it in any further. He was sure the brunette would be stringing together a number of snide remarks right around now. He kicked at the ground annoyingly before shooting off at incredible speeds, heading in a direction he felt was the way to be going. With the way the weather was now, there surely wasn't anything worse that could happen...

XxX

"Holy shit! I just had to open my big mouth! Why does this keep happening to me?!" Naruto exclaimed hotly as he jumped into the nearest shop at break-neck speeds, his form blurring in the shop for a second before he let his wind chakra dissipate with a wisp of air.

Just after he'd left his apartment, another loud thunder clap had rung out before hail the size of potatoes began raining down upon Konoha, the odd sight scaring the blonde shitless as well as depressing him even further. What had he ever done to deserve such treatment from the Gods?

He let out a heavy sigh as the exhaustion from his speedy shunshin took effect, leaning forward onto his knees to catch his breath. As much as he loved moving as fast a he did when using his _Fūton: Shunshin __**(Wind Release: Body Flicker)**_, it consumed a lot of his chakra, and he struggled immensely at maintaining it for too long.

Kami that was another thing: he needed to find a fucking waterfall! He didn't know where he was going to just find one of those unless they decided to travel all the way to Taki no Kuni **(Land of Waterfalls)**; which was highly unlikely, probably next to impossible; but he needed to find some time to master his wind manipulation exercise. Otherwise he'd be feeling like this after every use of his invented jutsu.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of a door closing behind him, and he glanced backwards at the shop's counter to find someone familiar taking a seat behind the register. "Ino? Do you work here?"

Said blonde jumped out of her seat, not having noticed a customer being in the shop as she came back from her quick trip to the ladies room, falling flat on her rear with a small 'Eep!' She righted herself fairly quickly though, dusting her pants off and shooting back into her seat with a speed that could've rivalled his shunshin. And that was saying something. "Uh, Naruto, right?" she asked him softly from behind the counter, discreetly rubbing at her rear to massage away the lingering pain. Naruto just nodded his head with a grin as her face twisted into an all-too-sweet smile.

"What the hell was that for?!" she shrieked, her high pitched shrill gnawing at his aural organs. "You don't just sneak up on people like that without apologising! Where are your manners?!"

Naruto's face morphed into a mask of confusion as he scratched at the back of his head, all the while slowly back pedalling towards the exit for fear of his life. "Um, I'm sorry?" he tried half-heartedly, a sinking feeling developing in the pit of his stomach. And unfortunately, it wasn't his hunger. This was proving to be something much, much worse.

Before he could even blink again, she was standing behind him with her hands in her clan's signature jutsu, her eyes glinting dangerously as she blocked off the exit. "Nuh-uh-uh, I was thinking of something a little more, hmm, I don't know, sincere..." she purred seductively, her voice taking on a husky tone. "... **_Naruto-kun_**..."

Naruto's cheeks burned a deep shade of red as his mind went into a state of shutdown mode. But just as quickly as his mind shutdown, it rebooted, and he promptly became a sputtering mess. "I-I'm s-sorry Ino, I really d-didn't mean to scare you y'know, honest!" he pleaded, finding himself on his knees with his hands clasped together tightly as he begged for his life at the feet of the blonde beauty. "Just p-please don't use your mind jutsus on me!"

Oh, he knew all too well the jutsus the Yamanaka Clan specialised in: the techniques of the mind. For generations they'd worked closely with the Nara and Akimichi Clan's, their legendary three man formation known as the Ino-Shika-Chou trio going so far as to be dubbed the most effective team formation of the elemental nations. And a part from that, Naruto was just really afraid of having his mind invaded. People would most likely get a bigger shock than him from what they would end up finding once they started wandering around in there.

The blonde Yamanaka smirked victoriously as she got her apology before skipping back over to her spot behind the counter and smiling brightly at him as if nothing had ever happened. "See, now didn't that feel good?" she asked rhetorically before she too began to wonder... "What are you doing here by the way? I don't suppose you were actually looking for flowers?"

Naruto got back up onto his feet and dusted his knees off, his cheeks still burning a slight shade of red as he coughed embarrassedly into his hand. "Uh, n-no, I actually just ducked in here to get out of that deathly storm that's raging outside," he said as he looked backwards out one of the windows and pointed at... the cloudless blue skies and rays of warm sunshine that were filtering to the village below? '... What the fuck?!'

"Deathly storm, huh?" she questioned with her hands on her hips as a predatory smirk adorned her visage. "Are you sure you didn't just want to visit little ol' me?" she purred again, the shade of red on Naruto's cheeks burning a little more intensely from the attention the beautiful Yamanaka was giving him.

"A-actually, I was hoping you could point me in the direction of the market," he gulped out, his voice's pitch rising fairly high, much to his chagrin. Damn it! He hated himself for his current weakness in the face of this female, the other gender that was becoming so much more interesting to the adolescent jinchūriki. He was stronger than this, damn it! But for the life of him he couldn't bring himself to stand up against this blonde Yamanaka. He was just glad that Kurama had decided to take a nap for the time being, otherwise he would most definitely never hear the end of this.

Ino jumped out of her seat and sashayed over to the blonde, making a show out of swaying her hips. She approached him slowly, raking her right index finger under his chin softly, eliciting a small purr of satisfaction from the blonde jinchūriki before she turned his head to the left and pointed out the window with her free hand. "Just keep on going in **_that_** direction... and you'll eventually find yourself at the entrance to the market square."

By now the whiskered boy's eyes were half lidded, and he just nodded dumbly at her explanation. Naruto was like putty in her hands, Ino thought victoriously, her ego getting a rather large boost from the boy's reactions. Her eyes turned genuinely curious though as she glanced at his whisker marks, and for a brief moment she wondered... 'What do they feel like?'

She removed her hand from his chin to try and give them a stroke, but that seemed to be a mistake, because as soon as she relinquished her hold on the jinchūriki, he had his entire body out the door already, with his head the last thing in the shop.

"T-thanks for the directions Ino, I-I'll see you later then," he said hurriedly with a quick wave as he dashed away towards the market, a chime from the bell above the door signifying his rapid departure.

A smirking Ino remained rooted for a while longer before she strode back to her seat behind the counter at a sedate pace. She had almost forgotten what it was like to feel like a girl again, what with all the shinobi business that she was now involved in. That small moment with Naruto just now had reminded her of that.

'That was surprisingly more rewarding than all the grunts I've ever managed to get from Sasuke-kun combined. I'll have to mess with my fellow blonde more often,' she thought with a girlish giggle, reaching down for a magazine and opening it up back where she'd left off as she resumed her post as cashier.

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**_AN: As I said before, this was a much slower chapter, so no new jutsus either. I hope it was up to scratch, and if you guys spotted any errors, any at all, please let me know (errors such as spelling mistakes, left out words, etc). It really bugs me if there are errors in the story, no matter how small... I'm a 'slight' perfectionist (I'm sure you guys have noticed my liberal use of the horizontal lines; man I love those things xD ; I like to keep everything neat and organised you know), so it really rubs me up the wrong way :D_**

_**So, let me know how the chapter was, drop me a mail or a review if you want to chat, but otherwise, enjoy the rest of the week guys, until next time...**_


	9. Birds of a Feather

_**AN: What's up guys, back with another update for Tsuki's Maverick =) My Uni life at the moment is slowly getting more intense, but I managed to stick to my update every week and a half with this chapter, so I hope I didn't make you guys wait too long. Any ways, before I carry on to the story, just gonna answer what few reviews I got... hoping for those to increase soon :D**_

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danilek12 - Hehe, thanks mate, I thought it was a pretty good comic relief to add in at that point, and I'm glad it did its job of calming things a bit :D Looking forward to hearing from you this chapter, always glad to read your comments =)

ougley - Hey mate, thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed the chapter =) Hope this one meets any expectations too :)

butterflypuss - Hey mate, thanks for the review :) And let me put your fears to rest, this will not, under no circumstance, be a Naru/Hina :D I'm with you on your dislike for the pairing... I used to be a fan, but the feeling slowly started to wain, and I just can't handle this pairing anymore :P As for a possible pairing with Ino, I'm not too sure... I've never written any kind of romance before, but I'd really like to try and make a pairing for this story, just got to figure out who I'd like to make the pairing with... but that will come eventually I think =)

LordHero - Howzit going dude, thanks for the review :) With regards to that Naruto and tempting fate thing, I tried to give most of the characters each their own little habits and quirks in a way, try and make them more readable and dynamic... if that makes any kind of sense xD I hope that it makes them more enjoyable to read. Glad you liked the scenes between Naruto and the Hokage and Ino... I had a lot of fun writing a flirty Ino :D I feel she didn't really get much screen time in the actual show, so she's one of my favourite female characters. As for the summary, I really wouldn't want to end my story after that was over, I've gotten pretty attached to this story and I'm enjoying it too much to just end it there. I guess I'll have to try and change the summary, but I'm not too good with making summaries, so maybe I'll try and get some help from you guys =) Hope you enjoy this chapter though :)

Tony Blu - Hey mate, thanks for the review, I really appreciate it =) So psyched that you're loving the story, I've put a good deal of effort into writing it :D With regards to Sakura, I do have a meeting planned up with her later, so you should see her in the not-too-distant future ;) And glad you liked the interactions with the other girls... to be honest, I didn't really expect to see Shiho either xD But alas, she's a cool character and wasn't really explored much, so I'm gonna try that here :) Really though, thanks for your kind words... you actually cracked a smile out of me, so thanks for that, and enjoy the chapter =)

Guest - Again, thanks for the review, but a little disappointed I don't have a name to add to the review :P Any ways, I'm glad that you liked the story, and I hope that you get this reply and know who you are =) Joining fanfic isn't too diffcult, so you should try it so that next time I can thank you by name ;) Hope you enjoy the chapter =)

Guest - Hey mate, thanks for the review, and I'll take that into account. This is the first time somebody has complained about it, so I assumed it was all right so far. As I said before, it's a pity you aren't a member of fanfic so that I can thank you by name... it really is quite an easy process. I hope you you know who you are and get this reply, thanks for the review again, and enjoy the chapter =)

careless7 - Thanks for the review buddy, glad you're enjoying the story so far =) And we'll just have to see what happens in that regard... he might, he might not, but remember that he has called Tsuki his home for the entirety of his life, and he's now got a family there... it would be pretty difficuly for him to have to leave that :) Any ways, hope you like this chapter.

Yana5 - Hey Yana, as always, thanks for the review =) Always a good spirit lifter and writing motivator :D Hope you enjoyed the last chapter, and hope that you enjoy this one too =) Let me know.

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_**Well, that's it for reviews, thanks for those who did review, it means a lot, and I try and take your advice into careful consideration before continuing with each successive chapter.**_

_**Before I leave you guys to read the chapter, I just want to let you know that things might be seeming a little slow for now, but the Ch**__**ūnin Exams are more or less 1-2 chapter away from starting, so please hang in there... for my sake xD Please let me know if you guys find any mistakes or errors in the chapter - as you know I don't have a beta anymore, which is how I prefer it, but even I can slip up sometimes, so please point them out so I can fix them ASAP.**_

_**Also, please read the AN at the end of this chapter. Thanks, and let me not keep you any longer... Enjoy the chapter :)**_

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

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_Chapter 9: Birds of a Feather..._

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"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

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_Konohagakure, mission assignment desk, later that afternoon..._

* * *

"... you and your team will be travelling to Tori no Kuni **(Land of Birds)** for this C-rank mission to deliver a scroll of significant importance," the old Hokage voiced to Genma and his squad, the leader of the village sitting casually behind the old long wooden desk with his hands laced together in his Hokage-pose. It was a pose that many had come to know during the Sandaime's time as Hokage, his reign as leader having been the longest the village had ever seen as a matter of fact.

"You will be meeting a team from Takigakure **(Hidden Waterfall)** there, and once the exchange is made, you are to return to the village at once. Do you accept the parameters of this mission?" he asked the jōnin, already knowing the answer despite the requirement of the jōnin needing to voice his approval.

Genma nodded his head quickly, his genin's mute expressions all screaming at him to take it. They'd have voiced their opinions on the matters thus far, but the consequences of such an action had already been explored during their previous trip to the mission assignment desk, whereby Naruto had voiced his insistence that they ask for a C-rank already.

Genma had promptly sentenced the entire team of genin to a plethora of physical exercises, literally training them until they dropped to the ground from exhaustion due to their outburst. With such a threat looming over their heads, they wisely kept their mouths shut during the whole exchange between their sensei and the Hokage, merely being in the presence of the leader of the Leaf Village being more than enough incentive to do so.

The Hokage pulled out a fairly small scroll from within the 'C-ranks' section and handed it to the bandana-clad jōnin, retrieving the scroll that was to be delivered and handing that to the jōnin as well. "Here are the finer details regarding your mission, as well as the scroll that you need to get to the team from Takigakure. Good luck on your first C-rank Team Genma," he added afterwards with a curt nod, giving all the genin a reassuring smile.

And with that quick hand over of scrolls, the team was making their way out of the building and back out onto the dirt streets of Konoha, Genma's senbon materialising back into his mouth with a contented sigh. "Ah, now that we've got the mission, I want you guys to go pack your bags and meet me at the main gates of Konoha in a half an hour. Pack for a two week trip just in case, got it?"

"Got it sensei. We'll be back in a flash." Genma almost spat his senbon out at the irony of that statement, but composed himself as Naruto and Shūhei were the first to dart off, Shiho making herself scarce shortly after, leaving Genma to stroll languidly to the gates by himself.

Being a jōnin, he always had a scroll that was prepared for a month's trip outside the village should the need ever arise for the speedy execution of a mission. A habit that he should try and instil in his genin, he had as an afterthought.

As he slowly stepped through the village to his destination, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder to his genin team. Essentially, they were a group of outliers, 'misfits' even. Their group of four was only going to last as long as they did in the Chūnin Exams, and as soon as they were done, they would disband, the likeliness of their team ever coming together once again being close to nil.

It had been just less than a week with his genin, and the harsh reality that his team would be breaking up as soon as they finished the Chūnin Exams was slowly starting to set it. In that small amount of time that they'd been together, he could already see the small bonds that every team had starting to form. It was nothing akin to the bonds shared between the Ino-Shika-Chou trios... that much was certain; but for a start-up genin team that was formed only several days ago, with a mix-and-match squad made up of genin from different villages, they were quite tightly knit.

He let his thoughts fade to the back of his mind though as he rounded the last corner before the gate came into view. Much to his surprise, Naruto and Shūhei had already arrived, and the former was busy having an animated conversation with one of the 'eternal chūnin' – as some shinobi had taken to calling the two guards who guarded the gate – Kotetsu.

He laughed softly at the oddity of the situation, especially when he spotted another Naruto sneaking up behind Kotetsu, the second Naruto grabbing at the chūnin's pants from behind and ripping them down, leaving the chūnin pantsed in the threshold of the Leaf Village's walls, much to everyone's amusement. 'Man, even Izumo's laughing,' he chuckled at the thought, rolling his senbon around in his mouth as his usual smirk made its way onto his face. 'It's never a dull moment with you around, is it Naruto?'

As he slowly approached the gate, he watched in amusement as Kotetsu spun around to try and grab the culprit, and his eyes flashed with confusion for a second as he glanced at another Naruto. The confusion of the situation died down instantly though, and his face promptly went red with embarrassment as he felt a cold breeze ruffling his 'feathers', so to speak.

The clone of Naruto disappeared with a puff of smoke as it pulled its tongue out at the chūnin, leaving Kotetsu to spin back around to the original Naruto and make a lunge for the blonde trouble maker. What he had forgotten in his blind rage though was that his legs were still bound at his ankles by his dropped pants, so he was sent sailing face first into the dirt of the road.

The blonde was laughing just out of reach of the chūnin's grasp, and Kotetsu seemed quite indecisive as he spluttered embarrassedly, not knowing whether to grab at the blonde or try to pull his pants up. Eventually though, pulling his pants up won the battle, and he quickly had Naruto in his grasp, the blonde having been laughing too uncontrollably on the ground to notice the incoming chūnin.

However, just when Kotetsu's grin was threatening to split his face as his thoughts started turning to revenge, a puff of smoke enveloped his arms, and the next thing he knew, he was holding onto an irate and thoroughly annoyed Shūhei.

"I'll kill him," the brunette muttered annoyingly, his arms still painfully held to his side as he struggled a little in Kotetsu's iron grip. "And please could you put me down Kotetsu-san," he spoke softly, making sure to keep a tight hold of his frustration at the situation and not take it out on the poor chūnin, who was just as much a victim in this situation as he was. 'Damn blonde best friend using me as a damn substitution. The nerve...'

To be honest, it wasn't all that bad a feeling, but it just irked him that the blonde thought he could just get away with whatever he wanted just because he was fast. What irked him even further was that so far, it had worked, and he had yet to be able to catch the blonde each time he was pranked since he had developed that new speed technique.

Before the situation could escalate any further, Genma chose that moment to make his presence known and curtly coughed into his hands, successfully gaining the attention of all the shinobi surrounding him. "Okay Naruto, I think you've done enough damage here. Go stand over there by the gate before I do something that I might regret."

At the blonde's challenging gaze, he narrowed his eyes slightly as if to convey one last warning and it seemed to do the trick. The blonde troublemaker folded his arms and grumbled childishly all the way to the gate, unceremoniously plopping down on his ass and kicking at the ground beneath his feet.

Genma just rolled his eyes at the blonde's behaviour. "I swear, one second he can be so mature, and then it's as if a switch is turned and he becomes... that," he muttered wearily while rolling his senbon around in his mouth. He looked over at Kotetsu with a tired expression before his eyes glinted mirthfully and he let out a small chuckle. "But he definitely got you good Kotetsu-**_chan_**."

Kotetsu turned to the bandana-clad jōnin with an annoyed expression before he too turned away childishly and went to seat himself at his desk, folding his arms and resting his head atop them. 'They're more alike than I thought. No wonder he and Naruto get along so well,' Genma had as an afterthought, glancing to his left for a brief second before moving to the threshold of the village and motioning for Shūhei to follow, stopping next to Naruto's seated form.

As soon as they'd stopped, Shiho landed at the gates with a small backpack secured firmly to her body, and with another small leap, she was standing opposite her sensei. "Sorry I'm late sensei. I was held up back at home you see, and I-..."

"No need to apologise Shiho," interrupted Genma, holding up his hand and waving her off casually. "We all just arrived ourselves, so you were right on time." She nodded gratefully, and Genma coughed into his hand to get all their attentions once again, turning to face them with a somewhat serious expression. "Okay team, this is our very first C-ranked mission, so no funny business. What I say goes, and when I give an order, I want you to follow it without complaints. Despite this being an easy C-rank, it doesn't rule out the possibility of an enemy attack, and I'm not about to let you guys die on me."

He turned to stare at each one in the eyes, allowing them to clarify everything before his features softened slightly. "That's not to say you guys need to be walking stiffs, but just be aware. Anything can happen while we're out there, so don't let down your guards for even a second."

He took another small pause as he turned to look off into the distance in the direction they'd be travelling, breathing out a small sigh before turning back to the genin before him. "Before we leave though, let's have a quick check through your bags. I just wanna make sure you green-as-grass genin knew what you were doing when you packed them."

The two male genin gave a short huff before reluctantly opening their bags along with their female teammate for their jōnin-sensei to see. Skimming through their contents in a lightning fast once-over, Genma nodded in the affirmative and hummed in thought. "Well what do you know, you guys actually seemed to know what you were doing when you packed these," he started off sarcastically, rolling his senbon around a couple of times before pulling it out and pointing it at the genin. "Remind me to get you all noddy-badges when we get back."

The tone of his voice brought a frown to all the genin's faces, and Naruto was starting to develop mischievous thoughts that involved his sensei being on the receiving end of a few pranks. Even the mildly shy Shiho was releasing small waves of killing intent, her hair swaying slightly in the aura of her irritation; not enough to befuddle their sensei but more than enough to creep out the other two genin who were not used to the unwieldy disposition of kunoichi. A certain book-writing white-haired perverted sage would have more than enough information to divulge on the subject.

But before any of the silent threats that the genin had could be carried through, Genma ushered them all forwards and popped his senbon back into its all-too-comfortable position. "Okay guys, you're burning daylight. Let's get a move on to Tori no Kuni." The genin all sent a minor glare his way for preventing them from carrying out their plans for revenge, but complied nonetheless.

XxX

They had been running for more than a couple of hours when Genma once again got their attentions, motioning for all of them to fall back and form up around him for a small break. "Before we go any further, I just want to remind you all that the rendezvous time is in three days, afternoon, which is roughly the time it will take for us to get all the way to Tori no Kuni."

Shūhei frowned in thought for a second before he turned his head and looked at his sensei. "But we'd probably want to aim for getting there at least a few hours earlier just in case something unexpected comes up..."

"Exactly..." Genma continued on, smiling proudly at the brunette's forethought. "... so what we're going to do is, instead of taking the somewhat longer and safer route through Tani no Kuni **(Land of Rivers)** and then through Kaze no Kuni **(Land of Wind)**, finally rounding on Tori no Kuni after that, we're going to cut through along the border of Ame no Kuni **(Land of Rain)** and then head into Tori no Kuni."

Shiho pushed up her glasses before coughing slightly into her hands to get all their attentions, recoiling for a split second as everyone's faces turned to her. "U-Uhm, yes, right. Well, Ame no Kuni has been in an ongoing civil war for years now you see, so i-it might not be the best choice," she finished somewhat timidly while adjusting her glasses, hoping her opinion wasn't unfounded.

"You know, you're pretty smart Shiho," Naruto said non-chalantly while absently twirling one of his trench knives around his finger, causing the blonde girl to blush slightly under the praise. "Going through a country in the middle of a civil war would probably be a bad idea," he deadpanned at their sensei, throwing him a 'What the fuck?' look.

Genma smirked and continued to twirl his senbon around in his mouth. "Indeed it would be, I just wanted to see if you guys knew that. But, you didn't listen to what I said," he stated evenly, crouching down to the ground and pulling out a map of the elemental nations. "I said we'd be travelling **_along_** the border of Ame no Kuni, not through it. Travelling along its borders however will still be dangerous, so think of this as training," he finished with a smirk before looking over at the brunette, Shūhei. "We're going to be practising moving around through hostile territory using a new enemy detection method that Shūhei came up with, and I must say, it's quite ingenious. I'll let him explain it to you."

Shūhei just shrugged off the praise and grabbed a small stick, using it to roughly draw his plan of action in the dirt. "Okay, so what I had in mind heavily revolves around Naruto. He is the key to this tactic, and I'm still not entirely sure if it's possible. But, with that being said..." He drew four small circles on the ground, meant to be acting as their team, before drawing pair's of circles around the four centre circles in a wide-ish perimeter. "The gist of the formation is having pair's of Naruto's clones surrounding us as we move, at about a radius of 100 to 200 metres around our position."

Letting them take in that bit of information, he drew another quartet of circles approaching the perimeter from the left; an enemy squad. "When an enemy is spotted by one of the outer clones, one of the pair of clones will dispel itself, and due to the nature of Kage Bunshin **(Shadow Clones)**, the original and all the other clones will receive the information." He added another circle to the centre group of four, making them five as he pointed to the fifth addition. "Naruto will have another clone running with him, and when Naruto receives this information, he will relay the orders to deviate from our current heading to this clone, which will be dispelled and send this information to all the other clones."

Shūhei looked up at all their faces... Genma seemed as impressed as he was earlier, that same smirk that was always on his face currently present. Shiho seemed to understand pretty much what he was getting at, but Naruto's face was as blank as a canvas. He seemed totally clueless, but Shūhei didn't blame him. He hadn't explained it too well he thought, but he tried his best. Looking back down at his crude drawing, he frowned at the circles located on the outer perimeter for a bit before he started absently scratching at the ground beside the sketch.

"There are still quite a few unanswered questions I have about a few things regarding the use of the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**_ which are necessary for this formation to have any sort of tactical benefit, but otherwise this is the basic idea of what I had in mind." Looking back at Naruto's blank face, he looked to Shiho for help who quickly straightened her glasses and coughed into her hand to get the other blonde's attention.

"In essence Uzumaki-san, it is sort of like an alarm-relaying system. The alarm will go off; which will be your clone dispelling on the outer perimeter; and then it will relay the information of the danger detected back to you. Knowing the extent of the danger, we can adjust our heading accordingly, and using your second clone that is located in the centre, you can relay the necessary information back to the perimeter clones so that they too, can adjust accordingly. Does that make a little more sense?" she asked tentatively, her hands held behind her back a little shyly.

She had hoped her explanation was a little easier to understand for her blonde teammate. She could usually understand things a lot better, and therefore, when given the opportunity, she actively tried to simplify certain explanations for friends or teammates.

Naruto stared at Shiho for a few seconds before his face split into a toothy grin and he threw his left arm around her shoulders. "I think you should take a page out of her book Shūhei. She's at least a **_hundred times_** better at explanations than you are. Try putting in a bit more effort next time y'know," Naruto finished happily while winking at Shiho.

Shūhei's face morphed into one of annoyance and irritation, but before he could curse his opinions out at Naruto, Genma got all their attention again by directing their gazes back to the crudely drawn sketch on the dirt path. "For the outer perimeter Naruto, what you're going to need to do is create eleven clones. That'll mean five clones to each side of us, and one directly behind us. Your chakra will be split into eleven equal portions, which will be quite large portions might I add; you've got a scary amount of chakra kid, I hope you know that. Anyway, those eleven copies should be able to, just like you, create and dispel clones. Although the clones created by clones will tend to be extremely weak compared to their normal counterparts, not nearly strong enough to be useful in any kind of fight, so they'd actually be perfect for what you need them for here."

After having listened to the simplified version from Shiho, and this little titbit of information from Genma-sensei regarding the _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**_, he was beginning to get the picture and felt that he was ready to give this a shot. This kind of formation could be something that would come in quite handy during the Chūnin Exams if it proved to be useful enough.

Nodding to his sensei in a more serious attitude, Naruto stood up and away from the group and popped his trench knife back into its compartment on his hip, placing his hands into the cross seal used for the required jutsu. _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)!**__"_

In a puff of smoke, eleven Naruto clones appeared and, already having their orders by the original, took their positions around the group in a much smaller-scale version of the proper formation. They'd obviously spread out further around the group once they started moving, but for now they just had to get the positioning right.

Each of the eleven clones summoned their own clone, the original Naruto doing the same, and with a few nods being exchanged between Naruto and his sensei, they leaped off into the trees and carried on with their journey to the border of Ame no Kuni at a run as opposed to their previous speed of walking. They were only halfway to the town of Tanzaku Gai which was located to the west of Hi no Kuni, and once they reached that town, they'd be halfway to the border of Ame no Kuni.

At the pace they were now travelling at, they'd be at the border just before nightfall. They'd be setting up a small camp just outside of Ame territory, then they'd rest for the night, before heading off once again in the early hours of the morning.

It was fairly routine as far as Genma was concerned, and he didn't think they'd be running into any kind of trouble whatsoever during this simple delivery mission. They had everything planned out as best they could, and this new formation they were testing out was yet another addition to their set of plans. But as they say, even the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, so a certain amount of caution was always a good thing to carry around as a shinobi.

* * *

_Hi no Kuni and Ame no Kuni Border, later that night..._

* * *

It was with sighs of relief as well as exhaustion that the quartet of shinobi running under the name of Team Genma arrived in a reasonably small clearing just outside the border of Ame no Kuni.

They had been running for the better part of the afternoon, and had finally made it to their halfway point by around late evening with heavily breathing lungs. All except for Genma and Naruto of course, the former being a jōnin and more than trained to sustain running for such long periods of time, while the former was just a chakra monster of note, his level of stamina incomparable to that of any of the other shinobi on his team.

Despite the shinobi being on a very important C-rank mission away from the village, the seriousness of the situation didn't detract from the beauty of the current night out. There wasn't a breath of wind out that night, and the cloudless inky-black sky gave way to thousands upon thousands of twinkling stars, shining brighter and more prominent than ever thanks to the absence of built up areas.

The entire earth was bathed in the soft glow of the pure-white full moon that was shining elegantly in the sky, said moon looking like it was closer to the earth than Naruto could ever remember. The craters littering the earth's one and only satellite were quite easily distinguishable on its softly glowing surface, each ditch and dent telling a different story of a time long since passed.

If it wasn't for their already out of breath lungs, a single look up at the night sky would've surely left them breathless.

Gathering his genin around himself in the middle of the clearing, Genma dropped his backpack onto the floor with a soft 'thud' and motioned for his charges to do the same, stretching out his arms high into the air. "Okay guys, we've made good time today, right on schedule, so give yourselves each a small pat on the back for that," he breathed out while stretching, his usual smirk creeping onto his face.

Instructing them to each take out their futons, he pointed out into the forest and rolled his senbon around his mouth while looking into Naruto's eyes. "We're gonna set up camp here, so go into the forest there and gather some firewood Naruto." Watching as the blonde went off, he quickly whistled at his departing back with a small grin on his face. "Hey, and try to be discreet about it. I'd rather not alert our position to every shinobi within one kilometre of this place."

Naruto grumbled unintelligibly but complied nonetheless, making his way into the dense black of the forest as he went out to fetch some fire wood. Genma turned to the brunette of the team and hiked his thumb behind him back at the back packs. "You Shūhei, are gonna be building a small fire in the middle of all of our futons, which you Shiho..." he started while now pointing his finger at the futons and staring straight at the female, said female immediately jumping at being called out and adjusting her glasses. "... are going to set out."

Making sure that his genin all knew what they needed to do, he headed off into the immediate trees and did a quick yet thorough sweep of the area, making doubly sure that there were no enemy shinobi near their current position. As routine as the sweep was, and as positive as he felt about his team being able to handle themselves should a situation present itself, he'd rather avoid a fight altogether.

XxX

The fire crackled and popped loudly as the quartet of shinobi sat comfortably around the fire that was centred in the clearing. They were all having a small hour reprieve before the shifts for night watches would begin, starting with Shiho, then Shūhei, followed by Naruto.

However, being the responsible jōnin that he was, Genma was going to remain awake with each genin; firstly to make sure that they knew what they were doing, and secondly to keep an extra set of eyes out while they watched. This was their first real mission outside of the village after all, so a little supervision was required. Although he highly doubted that they actually needed it.

Looking over at his genin, a small chuckle escaped his lips. Naruto was in the process of telling a story... a scary story. He was crouching down on his haunches as he animatedly regaled them in the spooky tale, a torch having found its way into his hand sometime during the retelling, shadowing his face in a scary-looking expression from the angle he was holding it.

Shūhei and Shiho were having varied reactions as they continued to listen to the story being told by the blonde, who was telling the story with the utmost enthusiasm and expression. Shūhei was sitting up in his futon, his arms at his side and an indifferent expression on his face, however Genma knew different.

Shūhei was trying his absolute best to appear unafraid, but the subtle twitches of his muscles, as well as his clenched fists told Genma a different story; he was just as enraptured by the story as Shiho, who was sitting up in her futon with a somewhat jumpy look about her features. She was clutching her pillow to her stomach as if her life depended on it, her knuckles going white from the pressure of her hold. Genma was highly amused to say the least.

But Genma wasn't really listening to the story anymore, preferring to keep to his thoughts and keep a watch around the area while they had their small little break. They'd earned it for having made such good time today, that much was certain.

Glancing back at the teens, he couldn't help the small smile that twitched at his lips. Taking on a genin team hadn't been at all what some of his fellow jōnin made it out to be. Many would say that it was one of the worst decisions they'd made as shinobi; others would say it was the one thing they had ever regretted doing while in service.

But he couldn't understand it. Looking back, this was probably one of the best decisions he'd ever made, and he silently thanked the Sandaime for pushing him so hard into taking on this specific team. He wasn't sure if it was just because of the genin he had on his team, but he'd thoroughly enjoyed his time with them so far, teaching them in the way of the shinobi, parting with whatever knowledge he had to help improve their skills.

Sure, it had only been a week at the most, and he wasn't going to be their sensei for very long, but this was his team, and he was damn proud to be called their leader. When they returned back to Konohagakure after this mission, he was going to do everything in his power to make them the best shinobi they could be in what little time they had left together. He'd only get this opportunity to make chūnin out of the teens, so he was gonna make it count.

Looking back to the three aforementioned teens, he couldn't keep a smirk from spreading across his lips as he listened to the ending of Naruto's magnificent ghost story. 'This should be interesting,' he thought mirthfully, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he watched a clone of Naruto hiding above the trio, waiting to enliven the spooky story a bit.

"... and to this day..." continued Naruto passionately, angling the torch so that it shadowed his eyes perfectly. "... people say that he still roams these forests on nights like tonight, when the moon is full, looking for weary travellers, in search of a new face that he can use for himself..."

Shiho and Shūhei were both leaning forward in their futons from their sitting positions, their eyes slightly widened as Naruto began to finish the story. Behind Naruto's expression-filled face hid a shit-eating grin, and with an almost imperceptible nod, his clone from above dropped to the ground in front of Shūhei and Shiho, transformed into the ghost from the story; a faceless ronin from the yonder-days in all its ghostly glory.

Naruto immediately fell to his stomach laughing at their expressions. Shūhei's whole body had frozen up, his whole face draining of blood and leaving him a pale mess. His eyes were widened to comical proportions, and his mouth was widened to as far as it could go. But he didn't move, or make any sounds, and Naruto could've sworn he was paralysed with fear.

Shiho had fallen backwards while still clutching to her pillow for dear life, her eyes wide enough that her eyebrows were able to be seen for the first time from behind her swirl glasses. She too was just frozen in place, unable to move a muscle as she succumbed to the raw horror that was the Faceless Ronin.

And then, in a puff of smoke, a laughing Naruto clone was left in the Faceless Ronin's place, rolling around on the ground in uncontainable laughter. The same could be said for the original Naruto, who was doing much the same a little off to the other side of the clone. Even Genma was openly chuckling, torn between whether to feel bad for his two genin that just got sucker punched or whether to feel proud about the blonde's excellent execution of his prank.

It took a little less than about five minutes for the two targets of the prank to overcome their paralysing fear, during which time Naruto was still clutching his sides in laughter. He managed to manoeuvre his body onto his stomach so that he was looking straight at his brunette friend and his newest female teammate.

"Y-you should've, *pant*, seen, *pant*, seen your faces," Naruto managed to breathe out in between his bouts of laughter, pointing an accusing finger at the couple of people he was currently laughing at. That was all he was able to do before he began laughing uncontrollably again.

Genma had finally managed to reel in his laughing as well, finding it necessary to be the adult in this situation. He couldn't deny however that his whiskered blonde-haired student had managed to do a serious number on his other two students. He was just glad that he hadn't been at the receiving end of one his pranks yet. But their was something that he needed Naruto to know, and it would seem that no one had given him a talk on it before. He just hoped the blonde would understand where he was coming from.

"Okay, okay, calm down Naruto, that's enough," Genma spoke seriously, Naruto's voice quickly quietening down at the commanding tone it held. "Don't forget that we **_are_** still on a mission. I know I said not to act like walking stiffs, but the same goes for acting like children."

Naruto let out a small snort which was immediately silenced with a small glare from Genma. He needed to get this point across. It was for their his good. For the whole team's actually. "You are shinobi now. The time for acting like children has long since passed. You need to start thinking about the consequences of the things you do before you act. I know it makes me sound like a bit of a kill-joy, but it's things like this that will get people killed on missions."

Naruto was somewhat taken aback by his sensei's firm tone at first, but the tone and body language of his sensei gave way to the hidden message which he got loud and clear: _'You guys are part of my team, and I don't want you guys to die.'_

Naruto's expression quickly became softer and subdued, and he gave a firm understanding nod to his sensei, his sensei giving a slight incline of his head. The silent message got through to his other incredibly smart teammates as well, who gave their own small nods to their sensei.

"That being said, there is a time for things like this, so just make sure the situation permits it." Genma gave each of his students one more once over before coughing into his hands slightly to relieve the tension, standing up and dusting off his pants. "Anyways, let's go Shiho; you're up for first watch, so get to it."

Shiho gave a quick timid nod of her head before jumping up out of her futon and rushing over to the tree Genma had instructed her to sit in when she took watch. Genma glanced back down to the two boys still sitting quite comfortably in their futons before looking back down into the crackling fire.

"Hey, you two better rest up while you can. There's about nine hours left before we're going to leave, so that means your watches are going to be about three hours a pop." He absently pulled his senbon out of his mouth and placed it back in a second later, slowly walking in the direction Shiho had gone. "And mine's going to be nine hours," he whined softly to himself, a small rain cloud hovering above his head for a second. 'Although genin teams aren't as bad as some jōnin make them out to be, they still have their ups and downs it seems...'

* * *

_Tori no Kuni, two days later..._

* * *

Birds. Everywhere. Even from before their whole team had made it across the border, the chirping, tweeting, hooting, cawing; any type of bird call you could think of; all of it could be heard from at least a kilometre away from the border.

At first it was just a small soft buzzing sound that gently tugged at your ears, a constant hum that rang true through the lands as you moved closer to Tori no Kuni. But as you drew nearer, the sound gradually got louder as the ever increasing pitch continued to increase.

But upon making it within the final hundred couple of metres, the sound reverts from the dull hum back to the gentle sounds of the birds' songs. However gentle thousands of birds singing at the exact same time could be. It gave your ear drums more than a good enough work out, that much was for sure.

After having made it past the border, the amount of birds you could hear and see slowly decreased as you made it closer into the centre of the country, which was where the different villages of Tori no Kuni resided. It was a very beautiful country, and the floral inhabitants of the country added to the already captivating beauty that the different species of birds instilled.

Team Genma had been running for little less than an hour when they made it past the border and into the country, and they were more or less a half an hour away from reaching their destination, which happened to be the village of Chōrui no Seiiki. It was a pretty fitting name for a village from this country, considering it directly translated to Avian's Sanctuary.

Setting the beauty of the country aside, with one last leap from each member of the team, Naruto and company landed just outside the entrance to the village, the quartet coming to a stop before the small outpost manned by several guards. They weren't shinobi judging by their particular attire or the way they carried themselves, but that was neither here nor there.

Genma got the attention of his genin and gave them a pleased smile as he looked out over their heads at the area around them. "Well team, I gotta say, I'm really impressed. We got here a day early; and that's saying something considering we're a team of fresh-out-of-the-academy genin. Well, more or less," he added afterwards, the look he was receiving from Shiho prompting him to quickly change his wording.

"Well what are we gonna do now sensei?" Naruto questioned quickly, his eyes roaming around to try and catch glimpses of the inside of the village. "We've got a whole day now before we need to meet these Taki ninja, so I vote we go to whatever party this is over here."

Genma glanced in the direction Naruto was pointing, and saw exactly what party his blonde student was talking about. The town was quite festively decorated, with lights and ribbons of all different colours running from rooftop to rooftop across the streets. There were a multitude of stalls placed everywhere as well, most of them closed now due to it being early afternoon, but many of them were readying themselves to open up for the night once again.

Genma looked up at the sun before looking back down at all his genin, aimlessly rolling around his senbon. "We'll see about attending the festival later tonight, but for now I just want you guys to rest. I'm gonna book us a night at an inn somewhere, so stick close."

All three teens nodded and followed their bandana-clad sensei as he made his way to the front gate guards and signed them all in. It was a quick affair, and before they knew it, they were standing outside what appeared to be the inn they'd be staying at. It looked like a fairly nice place as far as inns went. It was decorated just as beautifully as the rest of the town, which added a lot of colour to what could've most likely been quite a bland building. But it looked nice like this.

Genma gathered their attention again and gestured to the inn with his senbon. They quickly entered and waited in the lobby as their sensei organised them a place to stay, their eyes all wandering around the delicately decorated room. The inside seemed to be a whole different affair to what was going on with the outside of the building, and you'd have never thought you'd find a place of this quality by looking at the blandness of the exterior.

Genma gestured at the teens a couple of times as he conversed with the elderly looking man behind the counter, his expressions barely readable. Save for one moment when his face became slightly down-trodden, and the boys on the team could've sworn they saw their sensei glance in their direction.

After a few more minutes he was handed a set of two pairs of keys, quickly making his way back to the genin with an unreadable expression on his face again. "We'll be parking off here for the night, and I managed to book us two rooms." He glanced at Shiho and sent her an envious look, although the teens couldn't be quite sure with their sensei. "Shiho... you'll be getting the one room for yourself... and the boys and I will be taking the other... so please enjoy your stay there, even if only for me."

Shiho adjusted her glasses, and for the first time in front of the rest of her team, let a small smirk play at her lips. "Oh, don't worry sensei; I'll be doing just that." With her part being said, she grabbed a key from Genma's outstretched hand and made her way to the door number attached to said key, making herself scarce for the rest of the day.

Genma tilted his head to the side almost mechanically, a weary expression on his face as he looked at the remaining two males. "Well... let's get a move on. And try not to enjoy this as much as I'm going to," he muttered sarcastically, his expression drooping dejectedly. His earlier conversation all made so much sense now. Naruto and Shūhei however both couldn't care less about sharing a room with their sensei, and sniggered cruelly at his expense. 'Oh, I do just love my genin team...'

XxX

Nightfall came fairly quickly once all of the genin and Genma decided it was for the best to take a rest, all of them nodding off for the entirety of the afternoon. It was pretty easy to do once they were all lying in their rooms after having been running most of the morning.

But once nightfall hit, the sounds of the town's festival permeated through the entire village, and sleep was no longer an option. Genma knew that his genin were going to ask if they could go to the festival, and whether he said yes or no wasn't really going to prevent them from trying to slip out either. He had two highly strategical thinkers on his team, as well as the most unpredictable ninja - he'd be labelled as suicidal if he tried to deny them a chance to enjoy the festivities - the repercussions of which would be unimaginable.

So he decided to let them have a little leeway for the night. He'd scouted around, and there was nothing out of the ordinary going on within the festival. They were also genin, so they'd be able to handle themselves. So he gave each one a firm shove out the door, and with a quickly muttered 'Have fun', he retreated back into his sleeping quarters.

"Can you believe him?" Shūhei asked sourly while gingerly rubbing at his right arm as he, Naruto and Shiho proceeded on towards the food stalls located towards the other side of the town. They were all still dressed in their shinobi gear, albeit slightly more casual. Naruto had removed his bandana (truthfully he'd just forgotten to put it back on after waking up again, but nobody needed to know that), and Shūhei had opted for a pair of shorts and civilian sandals instead of the usual shinobi variants.

Shiho was still wearing her battle dress, but she had removed the mesh under garments from her attire, so she was feeling a little freer as well. They had all been pretty hungry after waking up from their afternoon nap, so food was unanimously decided to be the first stop of the night. "He just shoves us out the door like we're pests! And straight into a wall no less!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and smacked his brunette friend hard on the arm, landing a solid glance right over the spot where Shūhei had collided with the wall. "Oh don't be such a baby Shūhei, it was just a small shove..." Naruto started with a small wink sent to Shiho.

Shiho noticed the wink and immediately straightened her glasses as well as her posture, her mouth twitching into a small smile. "Barely even a love tap in my opinion."

Shūhei stared incredulously at her for a second before turning forward again and throwing his head in his arms. "Ah, not you too Shiho! You were supposed to be the most civilised of us all. You've definitely been spending too much time around Naruto here."

Naruto gave his friend another hard smack to the sore spot once again, this time earning him a retaliation as well as a string of colourful words. Naruto grinned good naturedly though. "Don't be so mean Shūhei-**_chan_**," Naruto teased childishly, keeping just out of reach of his friend. "We're here to have some fun, even Shiho-chan realises that. Lighten up will ya?"

Shūhei turned his head away from his blonde friends and folded his arms roughly around his chest, muttering softly to himself as they continued on to their destination. Naruto just snickered softly while taking in all the stalls, not a single stall the same as the one before it.

Each stall he'd seen so far had been completely unique. A stall selling traditional robes worn by the inhabitants of Tori no Kuni. Another stall had the owner weaving small little bracelets with names embroidered in them right in front of the customers, the speed at which he was making the bracelets truly phenomenal.

There was even a stall selling caged birds, ranging from small ones like Yellow Canary's to bigger avians such as Parrots. Another thing that fascinated Naruto was the stall owners' abilities to draw in their customers and keep their attention long enough so that they'd eventually buy something. They were all clearly masters of their trade.

His eye caught something else though as they continued on to the food stalls, and he couldn't help but notice how the happy families all seemed to stand out like sore thumbs to him. He smiled wistfully as he watched a father and son buy themselves an ice-lick, the father bringing the boy onto his shoulder before snapping the ice-lick in half and handing it to his son. The boy gave a small giggle of approval, and they walked off a little further to where the boy's mom was, his father's and mother's hands capturing each other as they walked on.

He found it a little silly to be thinking about things like that when he had a pseudo kind of family back in Tsuki no Kuni. He hadn't lived the most gracious of early childhoods, but he'd been saved from that life by a man who he owed more to than he could ever repay. But he still couldn't sate his curiosity about his own family.

Had they left him? Did they not want him anymore? Were they killed while he was extremely young, or were they still living out there somewhere, looking for him just like he was them? He really wanted to know-... no, he needed to know. It was gnawing at the edges of his mind, of his heart - was he unwanted as a child? Was he not loved?

It was a horribly unfair thing to guesstimate about, considering he had never known his parents, but his mind couldn't come up with any other reasons when the ones he had sounded so convincing, especially when he was a little emotionally scarred because of it. His eyes glistened slightly with unshed tears, but he held them back and sighed softly as he watched the family of three move out of sight.

He turned his head back to the front, only to collide head on with another person, sending both himself and the other person spiralling into the dirt path below. Naruto moved himself onto his backside and slowly rubbed at his eyes. He could've sworn he'd just heard a pig, but he wasn't entirely to sure. His head was swimming a little, but nothing a few second breather wouldn't fix.

He got up slowly and turned around to help the person he knocked down, coming face to face with a fair-skinned woman with short black hair and eyes. She was wearing a long bluish-black kimono with white trimmings and a white obi, and she was carrying a-... Naruto did a quick double take to make sure, but noted the fact nonetheless: she was indeed carrying a pig, and it was staring straight at him with what looked like an angry look.

Naruto immediately helped the lady to her feet and held his hands behind his head, grinning sheepishly. "Hehe, I'm sorry about that. I wasn't really watching where I was going," he explained quickly, hoping that she wouldn't find the need to exact revenge on him.

The woman dusted herself off and held a little tighter onto her pig, a soft and warm smile spreading across her lips. "Please, there's really no need to apologise. I admit to not really watching where I was walking either. I was actually trying to find someone-..." she chuckled sheepishly before glancing at the blonde's arm and noticing his blue Konoha armband, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as she interrupted herself.

"Are you a Konoha ninja?" she asked quickly, a hopeful expression on her face as she glanced back at the blue wrist band. Naruto glanced to where she was looking and stared at his wrist, scrunching up his face a little.

"Well, technically no, but at the moment I am." Seeing the confusion on her face, he chuckled sheepishly again while rolling his hand around in the air, looking for a suitable way to explain his situation. "It's a bit of a long story, but I'm participating in this year's Chūnin Exams, and due to a few complications from my homeland in Tsuki no Kuni, I'm now operating as a Konoha shinobi until the exams end."

She still seemed like she was pretty confused, so Naruto just stopped, took a small breath and apologised again. "I'm Naruto by the way, and I'm really sorry for knocking you over like that."

She looked down at the whiskered blonde with that soft smile again, and he couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his own lips. "Really, I'm fine. My name's Shizune, and this is Tonton. It's nice to meet you Naruto."

Naruto threw his hands behind his head and grinned foxily, swaying on the spot slightly. "It's nice to meet you too y'know." His eyes opened suddenly and he looked towards the now-named Shizune with curiosity. "Hey, you said that you were looking for someone – would you like some help?" Seeing her slightly reluctant expression, he scratched the back of his head with one hand while looking slightly defeated. "It's the least I could do for... knocking into you, y'know."

This wasn't the first time he'd ever knocked into someone. He'd had this same accident quite a few times over back when he was still a homeless quite a few years ago. He never got off with a smile as kind as this woman's though. All he'd received was tongue lashings... as well as all kinds of other lashings. It wasn't very pretty to say the least.

The look of defeat on the whiskered boy's face was too much for the young woman, and with a grateful smile, she nodded her head and slowly started back in the direction she was going earlier. "Okay Naruto. Follow me then. I saw her last in this direction."

Naruto nodded and smiled genuinely, trodding on after her before quickly turning around and frowning. 'Shit. I clean forgot about Shūhei and Shiho-chan.' Bringing his hands up into the cross seal and creating a single kage bunshin, he looked it squarely in the eyes and gave a small nod., the clone darting off in his previous heading "Okay, now that that's taken care of, time to help-... Hey Shizune, wait up!"

XxX

"Hey uhm, Shizune, are you sure she came this way?" Naruto asked hesitantly, glancing around at the particular area they were currently searching in. They just happened to be in an area that was sort of a mash between a gambling strip and red light district, establishments from both sides of the night life scattered about all over.

He'd heard from Shizune that the woman they were looking for was a bit of a compulsive gambler, but who the hell in their right mind would come to a place like this, and just for gambling? This place was nothing like the perfectly beautiful area the town had looked like five minutes ago. Five minutes ago, family's were meandering about happily, stopping at stalls to buy little goodies that were being sold by the local villagers.

Now... now, they were meandering about in a part of town that was infested with drunks and hookers, empty sake bottles seeming to be common place among the ground they were walking on. 'And that guy there, is he-... ah no! He is! He's pissing right there against that building! What the fuck?!'

He quickened his pace a bit and sided up next to the calm-looking Shizune again, keeping step with her as they passed some more drunkards. "You look like you do this often," he muttered sympathetically, a grimace gracing his face as he spotted a steaming puddle of what he knew to be urine pooled up around that lamp post. His nose crinkled uncomfortably from the pungent smell of the hot urine. 'Absolutely-fucking disgusting...'

Shizune heard the sympathy in his voice, and she smiled softly again, clutching Tonton a little tighter as she tuned all the other more unsavoury sights out. She'd had to learn how to rather quickly; she often found herself chasing after her master in places like these. "Yes, Tsunade-sama often gets herself into... **_undesirable_** situations when she gambles."

Naruto 'hmmd' softly as he continued to keep pace with the black haired woman, but something about that name seemed familiar to him. He felt like he should know it, and it was on the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't quite place it. "Tsunade... that name sounds so familiar. And it's so frustrating because I just can't seem to remember why!"

Shizune giggled softly at the blonde's quizzical face and frustration, and Tonton oinked happily a few times. "Hm, I can't believe you can't remember who she is. Tsunade-sama is the last of the Senju Clan and the most revered medical ninja in the Elemental Nations, and is also recognised as its strongest kunoichi as well. She was also one of-..."

"... one of Konoha's Densetsu no Sannin... along with Orochimaru and... Jiraiya..." he breathed softly, his eyes wide with recognition. His mind had just dredged up that information now, and he couldn't even remember where he'd read it. He absently glanced at his back pocket where his 'Tails of a Gutsy Ninja' was located, and he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before. How had he never picked up on that small little fact?

He knew exactly who the Sannin were. They were legendary, the greatest ninja of their time, yet after having read his favourite book for who knew how long, probably having gained the ability to recite the entire novel by now from his memory, it had never clicked that the author of that book was **_the_** Jiraiya of the Sannin. Seriously, what was wrong with him. He absently ran a hand through his hair and heaved a small sigh, closing his eyes for but a moment. 'Oh well, there's nothing crying about it now will do. At least I know I'm looking for a pretty elderly woman...'

"You forget that she's also known more prominently nowadays as the Legendary Sucker," Shizune added while interrupting his thoughts with a somewhat disapproving look marring her visage. She really didn't understand Tsunade-sama sometimes though! She knew she was going to lose, and she borrowed money from people knowing she wouldn't be able to pay it back, yet she still gambled it away. She would never understand her master's gambling addiction.

She blinked confusedly though and shook her head, looking back down at the blonde beside her a little bit sheepishly. "Sorry Naruto, what were you saying?"

Naruto took it in stride though and repeated his earlier question. "I was just wondering why people called her the Legendary Sucker?" He had his own nickname, so he understood the how, but his was pretty self-explanatory: The Most Unpredictable Ninja. There weren't too many ways to interpret that. He was a ninja. And his methods of his trade in the shinobi business were pretty unpredictable, hence the creation of his nickname, 'The Most Unpredictable Ninja.' But a name like 'The Legendary Sucker'? That was a little **_too_** ambiguous in Naruto's eyes. Especially for someone who was essentially a granny.

_BOOM_

He was jolted out of his musings by a commotion from a nearby gambling establishment, and lifted his head to see a slot machine flying through the doors of the building and crashing outside against the dirt path in the middle of the street with a loud clang and several jingles, coins flowing out of the now obviously-malfunctioning machine.

Shizune hung her head in shame and heaved a heavy sigh, the soft utterance of 'Not again' by his female companion more than enough to let him know that they had found who they were looking for... they had found Senju Tsunade.

* * *

_**AN: Okay guys, well that's it for the chapter. I'm sorry for this one not containing too much action, but the action will be coming soon, within 2 chapters to be exact, so hang on please. **_

_**The important thing I needed to let you guys know was that within the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be writing a few tests at Uni, so I'm more than likely going to be unable to write or update during that time. I know it's a bit of a bummer, and I'm just as miffed about it as I hope you guys are... but once my tests are done, I can get back to writing up the next chapter, so if you guys can be patient, then I'll try my best not to disappoint you guys =)**_

_**Alas, this is the end of the AN, so I'll get out of your hair and spare you guys any other boring sentiments I have to share... I'm sure I must be dulling up your guys' weekends xD Till next time then...**_


	10. Calm Before the Storm

**_AN: Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long to get up this latest chapter, but University has single handedly cut into my ability to find time to write any more. And I've got my final exams coming up soon, so updates are gonna be halted for quite some time until I'm finished with them. That means until the end of November rounabout, but this fic isn't over, not by a longshot ;)  
_**

**_This is the last chapter before the Chunin Exams officially start, so enjoy it =) Things should start getting a little more fast-paced and action-packed next chapter :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know, and also, I apologise again for the long wait as well as the wait that will come. But if you managed to stick through the long wait, I think you'll be glad that you did... Any ways, onto the chapter..._**

**Disclaimer: All things Naruto and characters of Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

__Chapter 10:_ Calm Before the Storm  
_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Streets of Tori no Kuni, that same night..._

* * *

Naruto and Shizune ran up ahead to see what the commotion was all about, but before they could even make it to the gambling house, a light skinned woman with waist length blonde hair done into two pigtails with two bangs framing her face emerged from within, a none-too-pleasant look on her face. She was of average height with brown eyes, and she had a violet diamond mark in the centre of her forehead and a blue crystal necklace around her neck. She was wearing a grass-green haori with a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves underneath, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants.

Naruto noted with a barely noticeable nose bleed and a gulp that her blouse was closed quite low, revealing a fair amount of her sizeable cleavage. Managing to tear his eyes away from her chest and up to her face with great difficulty, his cheeks reddened and his eyes widened slightly as he took in her beauty. She was probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, and that was saying something – being from an island that had a lot of tourist business, he'd seen his fair share of exotic beauties, but none quite as breath-taking as this woman.

Although Shizune was pretty miffed by her master's actions, actions that would most probably lead to more debt, she couldn't suppress the giggle that escaped her lips after taking in the whisker-marked boy's face. It was the usual reaction men gave when gazing upon her master for the first time, although the looks from the older males were a lot more of the lecherous nature.

Tsunade strode right up to her apprentice and her face immediately softened a bit, her previous agitation fading away slightly. If there was one thing Tsunade could always count on in her life to be there for her no matter what, it was Shizune. The girl was the niece of her deceased lover Dan, and although they weren't related by blood, Tsunade would argue with Kami herself over the fact that they **_were_** family, and nothing was going to change that.

Smiling at her apprentice and their pet pig – her apprentice's somewhat irked look going right over her head – she placed her hands on her hips and looked Shizune squarely in the eyes. "Shizune, where have you been? I've been looking for you the whole night. We've still got things to do and places to be."

Shizune resisted the urge to fling a few senbon at her master for the offhandedness of the comment. She knew all too well that her master had most likely not left that gambling establishment since the time it opened. And she refused to give her master the benefit of losing her temper. She was supposed to be the level-headed one; she had to keep her head when Tsunade lost hers.

Ignoring her master's attempt to get a rise out of her, Shizune took a small step back and cleared her throat while gesturing at the smaller blonde to her side. "Tsunade-sama, I'd like you to meet Naruto. He's a Getsugakure shinobi currently acting under Konoha... I think," she added quickly, a frown creasing her forehead before she shook off the thought. "Any ways, he's going to be participating in this year's Chūnin Exams. Naruto, this is my master, Senju Tsunade."

Tsunade glanced down at the small boy she'd completely overlooked with disinterest before, her eyes widening and her breath catching in her throat for a few seconds. This boy, he looked exactly like... he looked just like... 'Nawaki-chan...' she thought sadly.

All sounds around her died out, and she continued to stare at the boy as he grinned sheepishly while rubbing at the back of his head, saying something to her that she couldn't make out. She was too deep in reminiscing about her late brother to focus at all on what he was saying, so his mouth continued to move with no sound being made while she continued to stare at his face, his hair, the way he held his hand behind his head when he was slightly embarrassed; there were too many similarities, and she thought she might start crying if she didn't tear her eyes away.

So she quickly turned around so that her back was to the blonde boy and her apprentice and held back the tears as best she could, hiding her emotions under the pretence of indifference. "I don't care who that brat is Shizune. Come on, we still have to find a bar that serves my brand of sake." Her voice didn't quiver once, and she had to give herself a small round of applause for managing to keep it together so well so far.

She began walking away, but stopped mid-step as she caught the blonde's words, and all feelings of sadness and pain were washed away by outrage and irritation. She swung her body around and faced the blonde boy once again, her fists clenched at her sides and her teeth gnashed together in annoyance. "What was that, **_brat_**?" she bit out harshly, struggling to keep a reign on her quickly rising temper.

Naruto crossed his arms and smirked despite himself, that feeling of enraging someone filling him with great pride at the moment. "Oh, I'm sure you heard me just fine, but for those withering old ears of yours, I'll say it again." Naruto leaned his face forward ever so slightly and his eyes glinted with mischief. "What I said was, is that no senile old hag gets away with calling me a brat..."

So yeah, he twisted his words a little to get more of a rise out of her, and yeah, he was taunting a Sannin at the moment – one with inhuman strength at that – but those things went right over Naruto's head as the euphoria of the possible consequences fuelled his adrenaline. That was the real kick he got out of annoying people; the bigger the consequences and rage a person vexed, the more pleased he was with himself. He'd realised as he'd grown older that pleasing everybody in life was quite difficult, but pissing someone off was a piece of cake. And boy did he love the taste of this cake.

A tick mark formed on her forehead, and she battled with herself to not lose control and launch a punch right at the boy's mocking face, most likely maiming him for the rest of his life. She was hanging on to the last modicum of self control she had, and one more push would most probably throw her across that line. "Keep talking brat and see what happens-..."

He abruptly cut her off, having way too much fun to realise his plight, ploughing right on into the ensuing shit storm that was Senju Tsunade. "Especially when said **_senile old hag_**..." he said loudly, enunciating each word slowly with that same shit-eating grin on his face, "... doesn't have the mettle or the vitality of her yester years to back up that claim."

That was the breaking point for Tsunade, and she slowly began advancing on the blonde boy, her steps indenting the ground beneath her feet as she bounded ever closer to the whisker-faced youth. "If that's the case brat, then why don't you stand still and let me know if it feels like I still don't have the vitality of my yester years," she bit out angrily, chakra swirling around her fists as she stepped towards him.

Naruto didn't bat an eyelid, his smirk widening as Tsunade continued to let her rage take control. "I'd be willing to bet a free hit that you couldn't touch me even if you tried."

Tsunade stopped in her tracks, her chakra still swirling angrily around her fists as she looked directly into the blonde's glinting blue eyes. Her lips twitched into a smirk of her own, and after hearing the word bet, her gambling impulses overrode all her logical thought processes, the plans she had had about pummelling the blonde into the ground right that instant being put on the back seat for the moment. "Is that so huh... you said you were taking part in the Chūnin Exams – so how's about a little wager? You should have no problem outperforming a **_senile old hag_** like me."

Naruto continued to watch the blonde woman intently, but just like many other guys, she was playing with his pride, and he couldn't back down. He couldn't show even a shred of weakness. He couldn't give up. His smirk shrunk a little, but it remained on his face, and he nodded quickly at his fellow blonde. "I'm listening..."

'Hook, line and sinker.' Tsunade suppressed the urge to smirk even wider, and she slowly cut the chakra off to her hands, placing them back on her hips. "After you fail to make it into the third round of this year's Chūnin Exams and obtain the rank of chūnin, you'll give me that one free punch you bet your measly little life on." Her eyes darkened as she leaned in closer, and her voice was reduced to just above a whisper as her eyes glinted in the reflection of the street light. "That one hit will be all I need to knock you to within an inch of your life."

Naruto felt the edginess to her voice, and he couldn't suppress a small shudder as goose bumps ran up his spine. He gulped softly, and cursed himself right after as he saw her smirk widen. "And what's in it for me?" His voice managed to retain its pitch, but only just barely. He wondered if she had noticed, because her eyes glinted in amusement, and he suddenly found that the shoe seemed to be slipping onto the other foot.

"Not that it matters what you'll get, because you might die before I get the chance to follow through with my half of the bet," she stated confidently, completely all right with the fact that she was betting with a 13 year old. Nevertheless, she was 120 percent sure of herself that she would come out on top with this bet.

Naruto rolled his eyes at her claim, but he didn't falter this time. "Humour me," he said quickly, watching the blonde woman who started looking a little frustrated at the fact that he actually thought he stood some iota of a chance.

And that was exactly what she was thinking. She couldn't believe this little brat, but she had to commend him; he had guts, if nothing else. It reminded her idly of her other team mate; the perverted one who was still hell bent on sweeping her off her feet. It brought a small smile to her lips, but she squashed it immediately as she remembered the situation she was in, and she groaned in exasperation. "Don't even bother with it brat, you won't make it-..."

"Well what if I do?" he cut in quickly, an annoyed look now gracing his face as he continued to argue with this woman. Who did she think she was; belittling him like this and thinking she knew who he was and what he was capable of?

She sighed in exasperation and hung her head before she quickly raised it once again and held up the small gem hanging just between the centre of her two breasts. "If you're so hell bent on this, I'd be willing to bet my grandfather's necklace." Shizune gasped at her master, but Tsunade held up her hand, and seeing his unimpressed look, she dangled it in front of her a few times and scoffed at his ignorance. "My grandfather was the Shodai Hokage Senju Hashirama, and this necklace would be able to buy you anything short of three gold mines."

Naruto's eyes widened comically and he couldn't help but let his jaw hang slightly. It was worth **_that_** much?! He took an unconscious step back, and slowly shook his head. "I-I don't know if I could-..."

Tsunade chuckled at his expression with a victorious smirk, and she hung the necklace back around her neck as she cut him off. "Don't tell me your backing out brat. There's no way you'll be able to come remotely close to getting it anyway, so I don't know what you're being so hesitant about," she finished mockingly with a cocky glint in her eyes.

Naruto watched her expression turn mocking, and after the way she was playing with his pride, he couldn't take this lying down anymore. He took a courageous step forward with his fist held out in front of him and narrowed his eyes challengingly at her, the fire within them burning brightly with determination, his voice oddly quiet, but not so much as to be considered a whisper. "**_When_** I win these Chūnin Exams and they decide to honour me and my team with flak jackets for making chūnin, I'll be sure to look for you in the stands and claim my winnings."

With his part said, he disappeared in a burst of wind, the small breeze flittering Tsunade's hair and haori as she stared at the spot he'd previously been in. 'Uzumaki Naruto, huh?' She snorted derisively and turned on her heel, beckoning Shizune to follow her. "Come on Shizune, my sake is waiting."

Shizune stared worriedly at the spot that Naruto was previously standing at, before tearing her eyes away and jogging quickly after her master. 'Oh Tsunade-sama, he's only a kid. Did you really have to go so far again?'

* * *

_Streets of Tori no Kuni, the next day..._

* * *

The genin of Team Genma had all enjoyed their night where they were allowed to go and explore the magnificent festival, and they had all thanked Genma profusely that morning. After having gotten something to eat, they proceeded to dominate at all the sideshow events and game stands, their training as shinobi giving them an undeniable advantage over any and all the other competitors.

They were eventually barred from participating at any of the games, their names becoming quite infamously known throughout the plethora of stand owners. They had cleaned out most of the stands of their prizes, and when they found a game stand with prizes that caught their eye, they strode over to it and proceeded to relieve them of their trinkets just like the rest.

Their faces were too well known within the community now, some of the owners having gone so far as to forbid shinobi from participating all together. It irked them slightly, but the fact that they had caused those signs to be put up by absolutely trampling over all the games was quite satisfying. Even Shiho had found it rather exhilarating. It had been quite frightening to say the least.

Shūhei was becoming increasingly convinced that Naruto was influencing her. Regardless of whether their female teammate had needed to liven up a bit, he just hoped that she wouldn't pick up on Naruto's quirky verbal habits. That would be a sad day indeed.

"I'm glad you guys all had so much fun..." started Genma with faux-glee as the team continued to walk down the main street within Chōrui no Seiiki. "... because the moment we get back to Konoha, I'm gonna be working you guys like you've never been worked before."

Naruto had been about to thank their sensei for being so kind about it, before the jōnin had continued with his sentence. But instead of groaning at the prospect of more training, he let out a small huff of air and let a reserved grin flutter across his lips. "It's about damn time sensei."

Shūhei looked to their sensei and nodded as well, a small frown making its way onto his face. "As much as I hate to agree with him, he's right sensei. We can't have you holding out on us, not when we're so close."

Genma narrowed his eyes playfully at his students, the barest hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. "I'll personally see to it that you eat those words."

Shūhei couldn't prevent the small gulp that automatically sounded out after their sensei's threat, and he couldn't help but feel like they'd just poked at a sleeping bear. Shiho just watched from her position besides the brunette, her hand covering her mouth as she giggled softly. "As they say, be careful what you wish for Shūhei-kun."

Shiho stifled another giggle as Shūhei turned to look at her with eyes that were clearly begging, 'Oh no, not you too?!' He hung his head low, the odds clearly stacked against him as Naruto jumped in and began wagging a chiding finger at Shūhei. What had he done to deserve this treatment?

Genma let a small smile grace his face as they continued their walk, glancing out of the corner of his eye at his genin's bickering. 'Ah, they're still so innocent, it's hard to believe that they're trained killers sometimes.'

He rolled his senbon around his mouth a few times, enjoying the familiar feeling before his eyes snapped to attention ahead of him, his body instantly straightening up. "Look alive you guys. The company has arrived."

True to his word, in that next second, the team from Takigakure dropped down into the street ahead of them, another team of genin accompanied by a jōnin, just like theirs. Except the team of shinobi descending from Taki looked incredibly unassuming, unexceptionally so.

Naruto had never seen a bunch of more average-looking people in his life. It was comical. Shūhei must have noticed his struggles to hold back his laughter, because in the next instant he received a quick elbow to the side of his body, knocking a most of the wind out of his chest. Naruto heaved a small thank you before focusing back on his sensei and the shinobi several metres ahead of them.

The rest of the proceedings were such an underwhelming affair, Naruto really wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or just plain angry for having expected a little more. Genma had just walked right up to the jōnin, handed him the scroll with the faintest of nods, and then backed up to his team and turned on his heel, leading them back the way they had come.

"I'm don't know what to tell you Naruto," Genma answered with a small shrug and an amused grin, two fingers on his senbon casually rolling it around within his mouth. "What did you think was going to happen?"

Naruto threw his hands behind his head and gave his bandana a quick tightening, deciding to just let his hands rest there as they walked on. "Well, for one thing, I definitely imagined a bit of dramatic background music y'know. And don't forget a tumbleweed or two, those are quite important..."

Genma just shook his head at the blonde's sarcasm and antics, and before they knew it, they were once again standing at the entrance they had entered the village through. It had been a fairly short stay, but nothing more was necessary, and it was time to return to Konoha.

"Well, mission accomplished you three. Your first C-rank mission went off without a hitch," Genma started proudly, smiling at each of his charges in turn. Sure it had been nothing more than a simple C-rank delivery mission, but a C-rank was a C-rank. "Now all that's left before the Chūnin Exams is for you guys to train. And the quicker we get home, the quicker we can start on your training."

The silent challenge had been set out, and he was honestly looking forward to seeing how long it would take them to get back to Konoha. They'd already exceeded his expectations on the way here, managing the trip in three days. Not an easy feat for a team of genin. He glanced at his genin out of the corner of his eyes and noted each of their somewhat serious expressions. They really were eager to start training. 'Best not keep them waiting then.'

"All right team, we're heading out. Same way we came here." His eyes turned to Naruto, and the whiskered blonde gave a small nod. "We'll be using the kage bunshin team formation again, and as the formation suggests, it is designed with the intention of escaping enemy pursuit with as much speed as possible, so let's try get back to Konoha as quick as possible with that in mind."

They all nodded their heads and Naruto brought his hands up into the cross hand seal. At the very least, they'd be back in Konoha within the next three days. Then, the real training would begin. "_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu __**(Shadow Clone Technique)**__!_"

* * *

_Back in Konohagakure, four days later..._

* * *

It was with barely contained excitement that Naruto found himself seated within a small clearing not too far off from the location of Training Ground 3, small scroll held firmly within his hands. They'd arrived back in Konoha two days ago, well into the night of their second day of running. But they'd just managed to shatter their record of travel time from Konoha to Tori no Kuni, much to their satisfaction.

Genma-sensei had been pretty astonished by how quick they had managed to high-tail it back to the village, and he'd taken them for ramen upon arrival back in the village – yes, it had been Naruto's turn to pick the restaurant – and he had taken full advantage of the treat, eating three times his usual fill.

Genma hadn't been too pleased about that, but he'd been the one to suggest treating them in the first place, so being the experienced and seasoned shinobi that he was, should've seen the ensuing overindulgence coming from miles away.

Once they'd returned, they'd quickly been dismissed with the express instructions to take it easy for the next day. As per the norm, Naruto's protests were rapidly silenced with the threat of not receiving a jutsu to practise on for the upcoming month before the Chūnin Exams. He'd quickly zipped his lips and bitterly promised his sensei that he'd refrain from training. But he'd made sure to let that bandana-wearing tokubetsu jōnin know that it would be for **_one_** day and **_one_** day only. Anything more and Naruto threatened to prank the entire village.

The unnecessary threat had been duly noted by their sensei, although he'd had no doubts in his mind that if the whiskered-blonde so wished, he could accomplish such a feat.

Naruto had spent the first half of his free day re-acquainting himself with his bed, studying the backs of his eye lids until his alarm clock struck 12 o'clock. After that he'd made a split second decision to go off and look for Shikamaru, maybe do a little bit of cloud watching, but upon eventually finding the area that was home to the Nara Clan, he'd found out that his pineapple-haired friend was out on a mission, and he wouldn't be expected to return home for another two days at least.

Naruto had promptly thanked the man that looked like an older version of Shikamaru – barring the goatee and parallel scars running along the side of his face – and decided to instead go and visit his buddies of the gate watch, Izumo and Kotetsu. He'd arrived to find the two barely managing to keep their eyes open, both of their heads drooping slightly from the overabundance of inactivity.

He kept them company until the end of their shift at around evening, when he'd bade them farewell and headed on back to his apartment.

He glanced back down at the scroll in his hands and couldn't keep a grin from forming on his face as he thought back to his sensei's words this morning...

_Flashback..._

_The entirety of Team Genma sat in amicable silence within the centre of training ground three as they waited patiently for their sensei. He'd told them to meet them there that morning at around 7 o'clock to discuss their upcoming training regiment for the next month. _

_As the clock struck seven the form of their bandana-clad sensei materialised into the clearing in a puff of smoke, his senbon, as always, resting gently within his mouth. He gave each one of his students a firm nod before chucking a small scroll at each of his students, each student deftly catching it within their hands; save for his whiskered bandana-clad genin who decided to catch his scroll with his face. "Morning subordinates; payment as promised for such outstanding work these past couple of weeks," he intoned lazily, a small smirk gracing his lips at the scowl on Naruto's face. _

_"Before you guys go on and open that, just take note of how our mornings are going to be structured for the foreseeable future up until the Chūnin Exams begin." _

_With more nods from each student, he went on to explain that they would be meeting at the training ground every morning at seven, just like today, after which they would be run through drills to improve their stamina and strength, as well as the occasional spar. _

_That would run on until about midday where they would take a lunch break, and then they'd be left to their own devices after that so that they could work on whatever it was they wanted to work on. He'd be around if they needed his help, but he encouraged them to try and work most of their problems out on their own. They were going to be taking the Chūnin Exams, so they needed to start acting more independently – more like the chūnin they were striving to become. _

_"Does everyone understand the procedure?" Another round of nods prompted him to smile proudly, and he gave his senbon a quick shuffle before gesturing to the scrolls. "We'll start with the endurance training and sparring from tomorrow onwards, so you guys can go ahead and hit those jutsu scrolls for the day."_

_Naruto's patient façade broke, and he jumped into the air with a fist pump. "All right! It's about time y'know!" Shiho giggled softly behind her hand, whereas Shūhei and Genma rolled their eyes at the predictable reaction from the whisker-faced blonde. _

_Flashback end..._

Naruto slowly ran his fingers along the length of the scroll, a soft cackle escaping his lips as the thought of learning a new jutsu once again ran through his head. It'd been an entire month since he had had the opportunity to learn a new jutsu again, and this scroll, this... godsend... couldn't have come any sooner. He was beginning to get withdrawal symptoms from the lack of new jutsu.

He untied the small string and unfurled the scroll, his eyes trailing over the heading situated at the top: '_Fūton: Shinkūgyoku __**(Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)**_ – with compliments from Sarutobi Asuma.'

'So, Asuma-sensei wrote this up for me? I suppose I should get him something nice the next time I see him?' He took a few seconds to think about what the bearded jōnin would most probably like, before a small chuckle escaped his lips. 'I think I'll just ease up on the food next time he takes us out to Yakiniku Q; it is his turn next after all.'

**_'Easing up on the food, huh? That is something that sounds damn near impossible to accomplish for someone of your ingestive habits.'_**

'Kurama? Is that you?' Naruto questioned quickly, a slightly surprised look on his face. He hadn't heard from the fox in ages, and he was a little embarrassed to admit that he'd almost forgotten about his foxy friend after having not heard from him in so long.'

Kurama snorted loudly, his face twisting into a sarcastic frown as he threw his tails about lazily. **_'No Naruto, this is the other fox that resides within you – of course it is me witless human!'_** the furry nine-tailed fox hissed sarcastically, his teeth bared in a snarl.

**_'And I appreciate your obvious concern over my absence,'_** it hissed sarcastically again, rising to its feet with its nine tails whirling more erratically than before. **_'I am certain that it must have been quite arduous to manage to forget about the strongest of the bijū that just so happens to take up residence within your gut!'_**

Naruto placed his hand on his chin and nodded sagely, an amused smile gracing his lips. 'Ah, so it is you Kurama. It's good to have you back y'know. I've truly missed our daily back-and-forth.'

Kurama's intense expression faded into his usual impassive stare, and he huffed loudly as he settled back down into his preferred sitting position. **_'As loathe as I am to admit it, so have I. Naps are only so good before the motive behind them begins to wane.'_**

Naruto grinned excitedly and glanced back down at the scroll in his hands. 'Well you haven't missed much, and I'll catch you up on what little you did miss later. But for now, I got some reading to do, so if you don't mind...'

Kurama nodded absently and lay his head on his paws – paws that were more human-like than fox, that was for sure – opting to observe for now. He was also quite interested to see what had the blonde acting so uncharacteristically serious, but immediately dismissed the idea of it being worth his intrigue as he noticed the jutsu scroll within his partner's hands. **_'How typical of you to act so unnecessarily serious over nothing more than a simple human jutsu. If you could comprehend even half the destructive power of a jutsu used by a bijū, you would more than likely keel over from excitement...'_**

Naruto looked thoughtful at that for a second, his mind wandering over the possibilities of a jutsu from a bijū before he shook his head and inwardly glared at the fox. 'Hey, I told you to shut it Kurama! You're distracting me y'know!'

Kurama just scoffed once again and stared ahead at the yellow abyss of Naruto's mindscape. **_'Tch. Damned gaki...'_**

'I heard that!' Naruto all but shouted, his eyes glinting exasperatedly before he spread the scroll out in front of him. 'Now, back to this jutsu...'

* * *

_Streets of Konohagakure, three weeks later..._

* * *

The streets of Konoha were bustling with activity on this fine summer's evening, shinobi and civilians alike meandering through the throng of people who were out and about. The sun was still out, but the lights scattered throughout the village had just been turned on, the day slowly coming to an end so that the night life could begin.

Naruto slowly manoeuvred his way through the crowd, moving at a steady pace with his female teammate Shiho walking alongside him. With one week left before the Chūnin Exams, Genma-sensei and Asuma-sensei had finally managed to organise a massive dinner with their other friends who also happened to be sensei, so they were headed that way now.

They were eating at the usual barbeque house, Yakiniku Q, and all the other rookie teams who were going to be entering the Chūnin Exams were supposedly going to be there as well. It would be a good chance to meet some new faces and scope out a small bit of the competition.

The last three weeks had been a mess of activity, Naruto and the rest of his team switching between training with their sensei in the mornings to training by themselves from the afternoon. And he wasn't going to lie, but Genma-sensei had really followed through with his threat. Naruto, Shūhei and Shiho had spent every other afternoon at the Konoha Hot Springs, their aching muscles becoming something of a constant during these past few weeks.

On the bright side, spending all that time at the hot springs had really brought them closer together as a team. Naruto could count the number of people he thought of as friends on both his hands, and he was happy to say that Shiho had most definitely made that list.

Back to his training though, he'd made quite a fair amount of progress with the jutsu he was given by Genma, but there was just a small little snag with the execution of the jutsu that was tripping Naruto up every time. It was no wonder that the jutsu was quite highly ranked; you needed pretty good control of your Fūton element to be able to properly utilise the jutsu by forming your chakra into small compressed bullet-sized balls.

Granted, he had decided not to use his clones yet to help him learn the jutsu. If it came to three days left before the exams started and he still didn't have it down pat, he'd spam some clones and try and master it as quickly as possible, but while he still had time, he was going to bide it.

He took a nice deep breath of the fresh evening air and turned to the other blonde of his team, giving her a bright smile. "Thanks for helping me out today with my jutsu Shiho-chan. It really helps to have another person's perspective on something; especially if they're as smart as you and Shūhei are."

His face morphed into a frown after that and he kicked at the ground in annoyance. "I still can't believe that ass wouldn't help me at all today. Telling me I wasn't even worth a fraction of his time... the bastard. "

Shiho hid the blush from the compliment well, adjusting her glasses before giggling at his annoyance of his brunette friend. "You don't need to thank me Uzumaki-kun. It was really no trouble at all. I needed a small break anyway you see."

Naruto just shook his head and looked ahead intently, his voice laced with conviction. "Still, you really helped me today. You're a really good friend y'know."

Shiho was slightly taken aback by his serious tone, and she barely managed a nod of her head without sputtering like a mindless idiot. But then as if some switch had been flicked, Naruto's gleaming grin was plastered back on his face, and he stretched his arms out wide, placing them behind his head as they walked on.

"I can't wait for that barbeque y'know. I promised myself that I'd take it easy for Asuma-sensei's sake, but if anybody else is paying, you can bet that I'm gonna-..."

"Ahhh! Hey, put me down you jerk!"

Naruto's head whipped to the side at the sound of the outcry, and from the distress in the person's voice, they sounded like they were in a bit of trouble. He quickly glanced at Shiho with a pleading look, and she rolled her eyes before her face softened and she nodded quickly.

"Come on Uzumaki-kun. We should probably go and see if everything is all right," she said with faux-bravado, getting a small grin from the whisker-faced blonde.

"I do believe you're right Shiho-chan. Let's go!" They dashed off to the side and made their way in the direction of the voice they'd heard. It wasn't too far off, so it wasn't really going to make them late. Besides, Naruto couldn't possibly go on knowing that someone could be in distress. He just wasn't wired that way.

XxX

Naruto and Shiho arrived in an alleyway to the sight of a boy dressed in a black baggy full-body suit holding up a smaller boy; who looked no older than nine; by the collar. The older boy had a black hood with cat-like ears on his head, and there was an eerie-looking wrapped-bundle strapped to his back.

Naruto quickly glanced around the rest of the alley, and out of the two whom he'd seen first, there was another girl standing a little behind the boy in black. She had dirty blonde hair that was tied into four pony tails, while her clothes consisted of a light purple off-the-shoulders garment with fishnet underneath. She had a scarlet sash around her waist, and there was a massive fan strapped to her back.

On the other side of the alley there was a pink-haired girl that was wearing a red qipao dress with a pair of tight dark green shorts underneath. Beside her stood a deathly-pale black haired boy, his black eyes and hair contrasting greatly with his skin tone. Naruto's face morphed into a small grimace at the boy's choice of wardrobe, but every shinobi had his quirks after all.

Behind those two were two smaller kids, one girl with orange hair tied up into two very large pigtails, and the other one with spectacles and a drip of snot hanging from his nose.

Before Naruto could contemplate any longer on the epic length of the small boy's snot, the one being held by the older boy gave a small grunt of discomfort as the hold on his collar wrapped a little tighter around his throat, and he struggled futilely against the strength of the boy in the body suit.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, only for Shiho to grab his arm and give him a small tug. He whipped his head around in frustration to see why she'd stopped him, but his eyes softened when he saw the concern in her eyes. "Don't worry Shiho-chan. That boy needs help, so I can't just stand here and watch from the sidelines as he gets bullied like this."

Her grip tightened on his arm for a second before she gave him a firm nod. "Okay Uzumaki-kun, just be careful. You don't want to start trouble now just before the exams are about to start."

Naruto scoffed playfully before flashing a beaming grin. "Don't worry Shiho-chan; I'm not about to do something I might regret, especially so close to the exams." His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed as he turned to glare at the tall boy in the body-suit. "But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna teach that arrogant punk a lesson on bullying younger children."

With that being said, he turned on his heel and made his way over to the scene of all the commotion. He did nothing to hide his presence as he made his way to the group, and he stopped five metres behind the boy, audibly stomping his feet to get his attention. "Hey, you in the onesie... how about letting the kid down and pickin' on someone your own size."

The tall boy clad in his so called 'onesie' turned around with confusion written across his face before his eyes zeroed in on the blue Konoha armband around his right wrist, prompting his confusion to morph into utter annoyance. "You Konoha punks are like cockroaches, you know that? You guys just come crawling out of everywhere."

Naruto snorted condescendingly at that, folding his arms across his chest as he smiled mockingly at the taller boy across from him. "Yeah, I know right. Who would've guessed there'd be a whole bunch of Konoha shinobi all around **_Konoha_**? Go figure, huh? Besides, I'm not from Konoha – I'm not from around here, just like you guys," he said while gesturing to his Tsuki armband around his bicep.

The taller boy's face quickly changed into embarrassed rage, but before he could voice his outrage, Naruto's face became all-serious once again, his eyes narrowed at the Suna genin. "But like I said – let the kid go and pick on someone your own size."

The girl with the four pony tails shuffled a little from her position and sent a small glare at the boy clad in the black body suit. "Come on Kankuro; quit wasting time with these brats. **_He's_** going to be here any minute, and you know what'll happen if he finds you messing about."

Kankuro snorted at his sister's obvious fear for their brother in front of all these other shinobi. Oh, he had no reservations in his mind that should Gaara come barrelling into the equation now, he'd shit his pants, but to show weakness in front of one's enemy was a heralded as a big no-no.

"Don't be such a wimp Temari," Kankuro chided her abrasively, sending a sly smile at the blonde kid who'd just shown up. "And as for you, I was just teaching this kid some manners, so how's about you back off Blondie."

Naruto's calm facade belied his true feelings on the matter, and his patience was slowly running this with this Suna shinobi. The smaller boy being held up by his collar's increasing discomfort was easily noticeable from here, and he needed to end this quick. "Last time I checked, disciplining a child was a parent's duty, was it not?"

Kankuro's sly grin turned plain annoyed as this blonde brat persisted further, and he clicked his tongue at the small fry standing a few metres away from him. "I said get lost kid. This is none of your business, so just butt out!" His grip on the small boy in his hands grew tighter with each spoken word, and the lack of air was slowly turning the small boy's face a sickly blue.

"H-Hey... t-that r-r-really... hurts..." the small boy barely coughed out, snapping Naruto's remaining patience right in half. With a speed only followed by the raven haired boy standing above in the trees, the deathly-pale black-haired boy and the red-haired boy who was still standing unnoticed in the trees, Naruto had substituted himself with the body-suit clad boy, grabbed the smaller boy who was being strangled before substituting himself back with the body-suit covered genin, all in two lightning-fast executed smokeless-Kawarimis. "_Uzumaki Naruto's Hiden Kawarimi Ōgi: Sen Waruyoi no Kūgun __**(Naruto Uzumaki's Secret Substitution Technique: Force of One Thousand Hangovers)**_... Never gets old," he chuckled good-naturedly, rubbing the smaller boy's back comfortingly.

In the blink of an eye Naruto had recovered the smaller form of one Sarutobi Konohamaru, the entire snatch-and-grab going right over the heads of the two smaller kids who were standing behind the pink-haired girl. Naruto had been nothing more than a blur to the rest, and all of the surrounding genin were left in similar states of bewilderment, 'Fast!' being the resounding thought bounding through each and every one of their heads.

The body-suit covered Kankuro immediately fell to the ground, clutching at his stomach and his mouth as he fought to keep down the rising bile within his throat. His head was spinning and his stomach was contorting uncomfortably, and the force of one thousand hangovers was most definitely descending upon him. 'What k-kind of jutsu is this?!'

The speed displayed caused grins to spread over the two occupants biding their time within the trees above, however both were for different reasons; both having very different intentions. The raven-haired boy who had been watching the whole scene play out dropped from the trees and into the space between the new blonde arrival and the retching Suna genin, landing with barely a sound.

"Sasuke-kun!" the girl with pink hair cried out, her eyes beating with hearts as she stared love-struck at the raven-haired youth. He barely acknowledged the girl, giving her nothing more than a grunt as his gaze passed over the Suna genin for a few seconds before it swept across the area and landed on the blonde's cerulean blues, prompting him to smirk.

"You're pretty light on your feet," he stated eagerly, the excitement in his voice being carefully contained. "Who are you? And what business do you have in Konoha?" Sasuke's hand twitched in anticipation of a fight, and this guy, whose speed so far had to have been on par with his own, if not a little quicker, would be the perfect chance to test out his skills. He just needed a reason to pounce, and he was hoping that the blonde's answer or lack thereof would provide him with said reason.

Naruto's eyes spotted the ever so slight twitches in the boy's joints, and the barely noticeable glint in his eyes alluded him to the fact that this Uchiha, if that fan on his back was anything to go by, was itching for a fight, and he was itching bad. Naruto's grin turned wry though, and he chuckled softly before depositing the boy in his arms softly onto the ground, giving his hair a small ruffle as he did so.

"I can be as light as air if I need to be," he replied mysteriously, gesturing over to Shiho with a tilt of his head, his blonde teammate joining him from her hiding spot in the far reaches of the alleyway. "And don't you know that it's impolite to ask someone's name before giving your own?"

The Uchiha's face hinted slightly with annoyance, but it was quickly veiled as he opened his mouth to speak, his smirk making its way back onto his face. "I-..."

"Nevertheless," Naruto blatantly interrupted, closing his eyes in disinterest as he placed his hands behind his head. "... this is your village, so not answering your questions would be rude of me, no?" The Uchiha grit his teeth in annoyance; the blatant way the blonde was acting towards him was somehow grating on his every last nerve... it was humiliating enough that he had just cut him off as well though, but the disinterest he was showing, as if he wasn't even there... 'He's just ignoring me... just like... just like **_that_** man!' he thought outrageously, palming a kunai in blind rage.

Naruto's eyes slowly crinkled open and he discreetly glanced at the raven-haired boy out of the corner of his eye, the Uchiha's annoyance-slowly-turning-rage becoming all too clear. He grinned mischievously, palming one of his trench knives from in his bandana as he readied for the inevitable outburst.

But before anything further could happen, a deep emotionless voice drew everyone's attention back up to the tree where the Uchiha had come from, none more so than the Suna genin's attention. "Kankuro, get up. You're an embarrassment to the village." He spoke barely above a whisper, but his tone held a certain hoarseness to it that demanded respect, or else. He was clad in clothes native to Suna, with a massive gourd strapped to his back. He had pale blue-green eyes with black rings encircling them, as well as the kanji for 'love' tattooed on his forehead.

Naruto, Sasuke, as well as the pale boy's eyes widened considerably as they looked up to where the voice had originated from, their eyes widening a touch further as they realised that they hadn't even sensed the boy's presence, let alone heard him before he decided to make himself heard. It scared them a little, but not as much as the genin from Suna it seemed.

Kankuro tried hopelessly to get his feet back under him, but his disoriented body and still-churning stomach was preventing him from doing so, leaving the boy a coughing mess in the dirt below. The red-haired boy clicked his tongue before disappearing in a swirl of sand, prompting a certain fox's ears to twitch in accordance with the familiar chakra. He reappeared beside the body-suit clad boy, looking down at him with nothing more than contempt. "You're pathetic. Temari, get Kankuro, we're leaving."

With that said, the red-haired boy turned around to leave, his sister scrabbling around for but a moment before she recomposed herself and shouldered the sickly boy on the floor, quickly following after the red-haired boy. Before they left though, the red-haired boy turned his head backwards and his eyes met those of Naruto's and Sasuke's. "My name is Gaara... Sabaku no Gaara. Would you do me the pleasure of giving me your names."

It wasn't phrased as a question, and the glint in this guy's eyes was sending chills whirling up and down Naruto's spine. He quelled those thoughts though and stood a little straighter, revealing the trench knife he'd palmed earlier as he pointed it in the red-head's direction. "They call me Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uchiha Sasuke," the raven-haired boy replied simply, pocketing is hands and making sure to ingrain both of those names in his mind. If he ever met these two again, he'd make sure to get a fight out of them. The blonde one and the red-haired one both looked very strong, and his blood pumped eagerly in anticipation.

The red head turned back around and began walking away, but not before his silent muttering was heard by all the remaining genin, the wind having carried it to their unsuspecting ears. "Don't worry mother... I'll make sure to prove my existence to them... especially Uzumaki... Gaara's a good boy mother..."

The rest died out as he rounded the corner, but one sided dialogue removed all reservations about that guy being normal, and Naruto's spine was once again wracked with shivers. "That guy gives me the creeps," he muttered softly to Shiho, prompting said girl to just squeeze his arm a little tighter. He hadn't even felt her grab him. 'Just goes to show how on edge that guy put me.'

**_'_****_He is like you Naruto, and like you, he houses the Ichibi... my foolish brother Shukaku. But we will speak about that later. Just leave it for now.'_** Naruto just inwardly nodded, the small piece of information causing his eyes to widen for a second before narrowing into thin slits as he stared after Gaara. 'Just like me huh?'

A small tug at his pants prompted him to glance down, and he spotted the small boy from earlier gently massaging his throat, a grateful if not somewhat embarrassed smile on his face. "Hey uh, thanks mister. You really saved my butt back there," he muttered softly while tugging softly on his scarf, slowly gaining more confidence as he saw his blonde hero's face brighten with a smile.

"Hey, it was no problem kid. I really hate bullies," he replied with a grin, bending down to ruffle the kid's hair, much said boy's secret enjoyment. He leaned in a little closer and motioned for the smaller boy to do the same. "But between you and me, I really wasn't sure if he was a guy or a girl, that's why I didn't hit him," he whispered conspiratorially, wagging his eyebrows comically at the little boy.

The small kid laughed out loudly, wiping a stray tear from his eye before his eyes widened to comical proportions. "I've got it! You need to train me boss! You have to teach me that super cool move you used! I need it to defeat Hokage-jiji!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the non-chalant way he referred to the Hokage, but shook his head with an encouraging smile all the same. "Sorry kid, but I'm here strictly on business, so I've got no time to train you. Be sure to come watch me kick ass in the Chūnin Exams though."

He gave a small wink to the child before nodding his head at Shiho, both turning around to head back in the direction of the Yakiniku Q. They were supposed to be meeting Genma-sensei and Shūhei there – apparently their sensei had organised to get all the rookie teams who were participating in the Chūnin Exams to come as well, so they were going there to go eat some good food, maybe make a few friends, but most of all, size up some of the potential competition as much as possible before the Chūnin Exams. It was almost time...

* * *

_**Jutsu List:**_

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__Uzumaki Naruto's Hiden Kawarimi Ōgi: Sen Waruyoi no Kūgun _**_**(Naruto Uzumaki's Secret Substitution Technique: Force of One Thousand Hangovers)**_**_

This secret technique is an orignally developed method of disorienting an opponent using a series of unbelievably fast _Kawarimi no Jutsus **(Substitution Technique)**_ in rapid succession. It is an extremely simple technique with an over dramatic name, very similar in style and nature to the Konohagakure technique - _Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ōgi: Sennen Goroshi **(Konohagakure Hiden Secret Taijutsu Technique: One Thousand Years of Death)**. _It causes severe nausea, disorientation, and above all else, untold amounts of humiliation and embarrassment; something worthy of The Most Unpredictable Ninja. The speed needed however, as well as the skill required with the Kawarimi no Jutsu make it incredibly difficult to perform, and when used properly, can grant the user a much needed opening in an important life-or-death situation, attributed to the after effects of the technique, as well as the unpredictableness of such a ludicrous move.

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_**AN: Okay, that's a wrap people, hope you enjoyed it - I know I enjoyed writing that little interaction between Naruto and Tsunade... Oh it's so fun to write an angered-possibly-menopausal-women interaction with Naruto (no offense intended). And I hope you enjoyed that original technique I created, I thought it was pretty clever, but that's just my opinion :D Let me know what you thought and whether there were any mistakes, things you didn't like; I wanna keep you guys happy, and I can only do that if you let me know if something is bothering you. Like I said in my chapter of my other fic, review, PM, or tweet me. Things will be getting better next chapter, I know they slowed down these last couple, so wait in anticipation (;**_

_**On another note, WTF is going on with the latest Naruto manga chap?! Now Sasuke is bad again?! Things are just jumping a little too much over the show, and it's a little annoying, but like I said in the chapter of my other fic, I can't keep myself from reading it week after week :D Be sure to check out the manga for SnK though, and there's an episode for SAO II coming out tonight, so I know what I'm doing ;)**_

_**That's me for the time being, enjoy your time off in school if you still are in school... because come University, the work just never ends xD But do not fret, because there is a silver lining at the end of the road. Once my exams end, I'm looking at around a 3 month holiday, so that leaves plenty of time to write up some good chapters for fanfic ;D Till next time...  
**_

_**Justin**_


	11. The First Exam Begins!

**_AN: Hey guys, I'm back, and my exams are pretty much done... there was a bit of a snag regarding one, so I'll have to wait until 1 December to write that last one, but I won't bore you with that story unless you want to be :D_**

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buterflypuss - Good to know you enjoyed the previous chapter bud, hope you enjoy this next one too =) Let me know ;)

LordGhostStriker - Haha, indeed she did lol xD I thought I'd have a little fun with Tsunade, so I used her destructive temper, hopefully I got it down nicely =D Hope you enjoyed the chapter and enjoy this next one too... let me knwo =)

Guest - Yeah, I suppose Naruto is a bit obsessed with his nickname, but I think I might have mentioned in the story somewhere, I think it is a self-proclaimed nickname, so he brings it up all the time in a joking, non-serious manner. If it doesn't say self-proclaimed, then it should, and that should fix up that whole conundrum =D Otherwise I'm glad that you've enjoyed it so far, and good to know that someone appreciates my back story lol =D I really tried with that, and I hope I'm not moving too slow? Any ways, glad you're enjoying the story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too :)

starstrike141 - Hehe, glad to know you like it =) My main goal when I came up with it was to go for something different, so it's good to know that I accomplished that =) Otherwise, let me know what you're thoughts are for this chapter, eagerly awaiting a response :)

Yana5 - Haha, yeah, Sasuke needs to get shown who's boss sometimes so we can keep that ego of his in check lol xD Glad to know that you liked that chapter though, and let me know how you feel about this next one :) Your reviews usually bring a small chuckle out of me each time :D

Tony Blu - Ah, sucks to hear about your holidays ending bud :( Hang in there though, they'll be back soon enough though =D Hehe, my exams were very good, so thanks for your words of thanks ;) And thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed the chapter, and I really hope you like this next one too =) I don't feel too good about it, but hopefully I'm just being over-critical... the say that your worst critic is yourself, and I can't help but agree, but let me know what you think =)

buterflypuss - Good to know you enjoyed the chap bud, let me know what you thought about this one =)

OoOXylionOoO - Hehe, hey bud, so glad to hear that you enjoyed that story so far, and I see you read them all in one go too! That's insane, but it makes me feel really good about my story, so thanks =D Yeah, I've never really thought much about talking about a specific taijutsu when he uses his trench knives, but that might change if I find something... it depends really =) Glad to know you've enjoyed the story so far, so let me know what you think of this chapter... I'm not too sure about it, but hopefully I'm just being too hard on myself... Looking forward to hearing from you =)

CharitysSongbird - Hey bud, glad to know you've enjoyed the story so far, this review meant a lot to me, you have no idea :D I'm glad you like my characters and my writing style, and I'm glad that you don't think my pace is a bit slow... I was a bit iffy about that, so it's a good reassurance :) As for your questions, here are your answers; firstly, like you said, I'm going off the idea that Kushina wasn't really well known... I think the only ones who would've really known about her were a few around Kakashi's age group as well as obvious people like the Hokage, elders, etc. Secondly, harems can be written well, and they can be tasteful, but I don't feel like I'm up to that kind of level yet, so I don't think I'd be able to pull it off, although you seem to think differently, so thanks for the vote of confidence =) I was thinking of having just a single pairing, but I'm pretty up in the air about who with... I still feel like 13 years old is still a bit young for a pairing, so maybe I'll introduce something a little later down the line when Naruto is older (and yes, there will be a later down the line when he's that age...). Otherwise, thanks again for your review, and let me know what you thought of this chapter... Like I've said a few times, I'm not too sure about this chapter, but I might just have been a little hard on myself, hopefully you prove me right and I was too hard on myself, but we'll have to see... looking forward to your reply bud =)

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**_This chapter was a pretty long one, didn't know where to split it, so just made it a nice big one :D I managed to write this one up in the last few days, and I tried to change things up a little with the first exam so that it wasn't the same as canon, but I'm not sure if I succeeded... I feel like I might have made it worse than in canon, but I suppose that's up to you guys... but hey, I tried (shrugs). Let me know what you think, and I shant be keeping you from the story any longer... enjoy... or don't I suppose. As usual, edited and beta'd by myself... can you be your own beta, not too sure about that lol, but I am :D_**

**Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

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_Chapter 11: The First Stage Begins!_

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"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

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_Streets of Konoha, early afternoon..._

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"You still have a choice here y'know. There's absolutely no shame in backing out," explained Naruto with a mocking seriousness, glancing to his left at his brunette best friend with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "We all have our limits after all, and yours might just be genin—"

The whiskered blonde was forced to duck under a brutal swing from his brunette friend Shūhei, the latter of whom was finally fed up with the blonde's constant taunts after having been forced to listen to them for the better part of the entire morning. "Could you knock it off already?! I'm trying to get focused here, but that's just a touch difficult with you and your snide remarks!"

Naruto had unconsciously taken a step back during his friend's outburst, and his body had been momentarily overcome by a trace amount of fear, his face losing all colour. However, just as quickly as it had come, Naruto realised what he had instinctively done and huffed non-chalantly, casually dusting himself off as he turned away from his best friend and carried on walking towards the Konoha Academy. "Jeez, who licked the red off your candy?"

The innocence with which the remark was said prompted Shūhei to halt in his strides, and his fists clenched at his sides as he began mumbling softly to himself, his voice laced with annoyance and unbridled irritation. "I'm gonna kill him this time... I swear it – he's as good as dead..."

Naruto squinted his eyes in confusion and took a small step back towards his shaking friend, the brunette's hair shadowing his teal-green eyes. "What was that Shūhei? You need to speak up more; I can't hear anything you're saying."

An all-too-sweet-smile plastered itself on Shūhei's face as he mechanically glanced up towards his blonde friend, and an evil glint shone in his green eyes as he slowly advanced towards Naruto. "Oh, I'm sorry – how... rude of me to mumble. What I said was: I'm going to kill you!"

Naruto's face paled as his brunette friend shot forward at him at break-neck speeds, and the blonde immediately substituted himself with the nearest object his eyes could find, said object being a fairly tall man with waist-length spiky white hair descending down his back in a pony tail, a massive scroll hanging horizontally on his lower back.

Shūhei spear tackled the unfortunate man that had been used as a substitution, bouncing off of the man's stomach and landing on his backside. The brunette quickly shook his head free of the residing cob webs before quickly pulling himself back to his feet. 'Man, that guy's like a brick wall... my head really hurts.'

Shūhei stumbled back to his feet before quickly darting around him and shooting back after his target, the blonde still firmly in his sights not too far away, leaping up to the rooftops ahead; but not before glancing back one last time and shouting a quick, "Sorry mister!"

The tall white-haired man dusted himself off before staring back at the two kids who had just one; used him as a substitution and two; tickled his stomach with that weak spear-tackle. "Damn brats! Sensei needs to put his genin on a tighter leash – can't just have them running amock in the village, knocking into the guests of honour!"

Despite his previous displeasure at having been knocked over, he smiled nostalgically as he continued to walk in the same direction of the two boys from earlier, his destination however being the Hokage's Office. "Ah, the village really hasn't changed at all. I better go find Kakashi though... he said he had some extremely important information to share. If it's to ask for another autograph though I might just deck him... he may be a loyal fan, but it creeps me out sometimes..."

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_Konoha Ninja Academy, a few minutes later..._

* * *

A patiently waiting Shiho glanced to her right at the small clock hanging above the main door of the Konoha Ninja Academy, a small sigh escaping her lips as she placed her hands behind her back. 'Shūhei-kun, Uzumaki-kun... where are you two? We have less than 30 minutes to register, if you don't get here soon then—"

It was in that next moment however when a grinning Shūhei landed beside her in a crouch, standing up to full his height and dusting himself off. Her mouth opened to ask where the remaining member of their team was, before a disgruntled and frowning Naruto landed on her other side not a second later, tenderly rubbing at a bruise on his left cheek. "Sorry we're late Shiho-chan... I had a small run-in with an asshole who couldn't take a joke this morning," he grumbled while sending a small glare towards his brunette friend.

Said brunette just grinned wider, his smile morphing into a full blown smirk as he rubbed beneath his nose proudly. "Aww, don't be such a sour-puss Naruto... you've been messing with me for longer than I can remember, and it was bound to catch up to you sooner or later."

Naruto just grumbled unintelligbly a little more, looking off to the side while Shiho seemingly unraveled the entire situation in a matter of seconds, quickly dismissing it as unimportant. "Well come on you two; we better go register before we get disqualified. You see, we only have 25 minutes left—"

"Well what're we waiting for?" Shūhei interrupted rhetorically in an unusually chipper voice, leading the way through the Academy door and taking his very first left down the corridor. "Come on! We don't wanna get disqualified now do we?"

Naruto grumbled a little more before Shiho quickly grabbed a small swab from her rear pouch and placed some healing salve over it, attaching it to Naruto's cheek with a plaster. "There we go, all better. That should ease the pain and stop any swelling," she added quickly after adjusting her glasses and replacing her medical salve.

"Thanks Shiho-chan," Naruto said gratefully; although the gesture was greatly appreciated, thanks to Kurama, and unknowingly his Uzumaki lineage, he would heal right away even without the healing salve. "That asshole needs to be reminded how much of a bitch payback can be... but I suppose that'll have to wait until after these exams, so we better hurry up and follow him."

Shiho nodded quickly before starting off after Shūhei, Naruto following two steps behind her. "I believe the registration room is on one of the upper floors; the third if I remember correctly," she quickly explained, glancing left to a long corridor and then straight ahead to where a small set of stairs were located, spiralling up towards the next floor.

"Then that would be our best guess," Naruto shot with a grin, grabbing Shiho's wrist and heading straight for the spiralled staircase. "This should lead us straight to the top floor!"

XxX

The pair of blonde's came running out of a small corridor, exiting through the top-most door and continuing on down another passage. "I can't help but feel like we've gone up one too many levels Uzumaki-kun," Shiho explained while adjusting her glasses with her left hand, glancing around at the inner balcony they seemed to have found themselves on.

Naruto waved dismissively as he continued on ahead, seeing another set of stairs leading back down in the distance. "Don't worry Shiho-chan, there's more stairs ahead, so we'll be able to go back down if we need to—"

He cut himself off however and slid into a crouch behind the balcony railing, dragging Shiho down with him and catching her before she fell, gently holding her close while glancing over the top of the rail. "Shit... I thought it was him..." he whispered softly, carefully helping the now disshevelled Shiho into a crouch beside him.

"W-What's wrong Uzumaki-kun? Why are we hiding?" she questioned before seeing him point off to below the balcony, a look of pure agony plastered on his face. He mumbled a soft 'You'll understand when you see it', and she took a small peek over the railing herself, immediately retracting back into a crouch while adjusting her glasses again. "Shit indeed Uzumaki-kun..."

Standing below them at the bottom of the balcony, on the floor that they needed to be on, was none other than Team 7. However, the problem therein lay with the fact that one Maito Guy and Rock Lee were standing with them as well, and that posed a serious issue. The two green beasts of Konoha had taken somewhat of a liking to Naruto a few days prior when they had had their joint team barbeque over at Yakiniku Q.

The whiskered blonde had simply made a joke while mistakingly utilising the words 'Springtime of Youth' to try and make a good impression, however things had subsequently spiralled out of control, a green spandex suit having been produced and given to him as a gift several seconds after. Suffice to say he wanted to stay as far away from Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey as he could.

"You mind if we wait it out Shiho-chan," he practically begged, his hands clasped together in a sign of pleading. He would surely be roped into some sort of 'youthful act' if they went down now, and he felt he might just die solely from the social humiliation of it all.

She giggled softly with a hand in front of her mouth before nodding quickly, a small smile on her lips. "Of course Uzumaki-kun. What kind of teammate would I be if I let you wander into a social suicide like that?" she questioned rhetorically, giggling a little more as Naruto crossed his arms and closed his eyes with a sigh of relief.

He cracked one eye open though and grinned lopisidedly at his friend, a mock seriousness to his tone of voice as his entire body visibly relaxed. "This is serious stuff Shiho-chan... I really could've died if we went down there! Honest!" She just continued to laugh at Naruto's expression, his seriousness over something like this sending her into a fit of giggles.

After another five minutes when everything seemed to quiet down, he peeked over the top once more and confirmed that the coast was clear. "Okay Shiho-chan, the Green Beast is gone. Let's go before he comes back!"

"All right, all right," she added quickly, being dragged down the stairs once more by her whiskered-blonde friend. "It should be just down there, on the other side of that small court yard," she supplied after they reached the lower floor, the pair moving through a number of columns that surrounded a fairly large court yard, a door leading to another corridor on the opposite side.

They rounded a corner after making it into the next passageway and sighed in relief upon seeing the form of their sensei and Shūhei both casually leaning against the wall outside another set of doors, their sensei holding his ever-present smirk with signature senbon hanging lazily from his mouth, while Shūhei had his own scowl firmly planted back on his face. "Where've you guys been?! I've been waiting here for over 15 minutes!"

"Now-now Shūhei, I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for their belated arrival," Genma said placatingly while glancing at the pair of blonde's out of the corner of his eye. "Right guys?"

"Two words," Naruto offered while holding up two fingers, a small involuntary shudder running up and down his spine at the mere thought of it. "... Green Beast..."

Genma's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he chuckled good-naturedly. "You see Shūhei, it was actually worse than we thought." He placed his hand on the whiskered-blonde's head before smiling down at his three temporary students, giving them each a small nod of acknowledgement. "It's been an honour serving as your temporary sensei, and no matter what happens, remember that you guys are a team."

Shūhei managed to abate his scowl for the moment, a small smile appearing on his lips as he moved towards the double doors leading to the next room. "That's right guys. We're Team Genma, so how about we go let all the other genin in these exams know that?"

The team of genin now thoroughly pumped and excited to get going, Genma gave them one more vote of confidence before disappearing in a cloud of smoke, leaving the Academy in a shunshin to meet up with the rest of the sensei. But not before making one quick pit-stop with a man whom he'd been waiting some time to see. 'Jiraiya-sama has finally arrived. I've already asked Kakashi to get Jiraiya-sama, and then I'll inform them both of the situation... I suppose getting the rest of the gang back together would probably be a good idea too...'

XxX

Walking through the double doors, Team Genma immediately found themselves attached at the hips, the throng of genin loitering around in the room instantly throwing them into guarded positions. "T-There's so many of them," Shiho muttered softly to the two males beside her, both inclining their heads as they scoped out all the different competitors seated or otherwise standing around the large room.

Looking around, they could see headbands from hidden villages from all over the Elemental Nations, even several headbands they'd never seen before, such as the village with the musical note for a symbol. "Hey... either of you ever seen a village with that insignia before?" questioned the only brunette of the team, his eyes critically scanning the entirety of the large meeting hall.

Both blonde's glanced in the direction he was looking, but didn't have much time to get a good look at the symbol before the trio of genin with that particular head band began moving in the opposite direction. It wasn't a second later before there were sounds of a scuffel coming from that direction, a few raised voices being heard above all the rest of the talking genin.

But before any of them could move to take a closer look, a series of smoke clouds enveloped the open section of the meeting hall, several chūnin and tokubetsu jōnin appearing and taking up the centre flank. They were all wearing the same styled grey suit with black hitai-ate, save for one individual who stood at the centre, his aura and body language denoting a certain amount of authority and respect above the rest.

"All right that's enough!" came the loud and commanding voice of the man standing centre-stage, his eyes narrowed intimidatingly as he scoped out the genin in the hall. "My name is Morino Ibiki, and I'm your proctor for this first exam. That's it. I'm not your 'dude' and I'm not your friend – in fact, as of this moment I am now your worst enemy! Any time you wanna speak to me... don't. I'm not here to lend my ear for any idle chit-chat you wanna have, I'm hear to mould you into chūnin. Do I make myself clear?!"

Everybody found themselves shouting a uniform 'Yessir!' before his eyes drifted off to the back left, his already-intimidating face morphing into a disgusted scowl. "You – genin from Otogakure! Who gave you permission to fight?! You want me to fail you before we've even started?!"

Said genin from Otogakure slowly turned to face the proctor, a boy with a bandaged face stepping forward on behalf of the group. Most of his body was covered in the bandages, and it gave him a sort of mummy-like appearance. "I'm sorry sir—"

"I couldn't give two fucks about your apology candidate!" Ibiki shouted loudly, his scowl growing slightly as a vein pulsated near his temple. "Now listen up, because I'm not gonna repeat myself: Any unsanctioned fighting between participants will result in immediate disqualification, no questions asked! Do I make myself clear?!"

The question was directed solely at the lone Otogakure genin, and he couldn't fight off the small beads of sweat that trickled down the side of his face and into his bandages. "Crystal, sir..."

The answer seemed to apease Ibiki for the moment, and a sadistic smirk replaced his earlier scowl, his gaze once again roaming across the hall. "Now, if there'll be no more interruptions, we can finally move on to the first stage of the Chūnin Exams. I want each team to present their documentation to the front desk, whereupon each team will be given a number. Numbers one through 46 will congregate on the right, whereas numbers 47 and up will line up to the left."

The teams began lining up one after the other in one long row leading up to the front desk, where several chūnin were seated handing out numbers to the teams as they gave in their filled-out documentation. It didn't take any more than 10 minutes to assign each team a number, and once Ibiki took another look around he had half of the candidates standing to the right with the other half to the left.

"All right, now that every team has been assigned a number, we can move onto the rules of the exam." Moving over to the blackboard centred at the front of the hall, he pulled out a small piece of chalk and began writing on the black-top while simultaneously stating them one by one.

"Firstly, each team will be assigned a room corresponding to the number having been given to you earlier. In these rooms, you will be placed under an extremely powerful non-lethal genjutsu that will simulate a certain situation and environment. Do not attempt to dispel them – you will sooner find yourselves dead from chakra exhaustion. It is under these conditions that you will be expected to gather information, your sole objective being that of locating and uncovering a four-digit numerical code."

Glancing backwards to make sure that he still had their undivided attention, he narrowed his eyes at a certain candidate who was just about on the verge of dosing off, and with a small flick of his wrist, the small white piece of chalk was sent rocketing at the boy, knocking him square in the forehead. "I'm sorry, did I ruin your sleep... I don't recall GIVING YOU PERMISSION TO SLEEP!"

Once again having all eyes trained on him, Ibiki fished out another piece of chalk before continuing where he left off. "In order to successfully pass this exam, each team will need to acquire their four-digit code and hand it to the chūnin that will be stationed outside your door. But be warned... you only have one opportunity to hand in the correct code before you are either passed or disqualified. On top of that, we will only be accepting the first 50 percent of you who hand in their codes, meaning the rest will immediately be disqualified. You will be given a 20 minute time-limit in which to complete this task, and those who do not... yep, you guessed it: disqualified."

He flashed them all a menacing grin before flicking his head to the right, gesturing to an incredibly long corridor that had most definitely not been there before. It was lined with doors on either side of the passageway, seemingly going on forever. "All right you genin, all of you who have numbers of one through to 46, make your way into the corridor and enter your corresponding room. The exam will begin in five minutes."

The 46 genin teams that were lined up to the right made their way into the corridor, Team Genma having been given the number 27. The rooms were all lined up in ring-numerical order, with one being the first door on the left and 100 being the first door on the right. Upon entering the room, Team Genma found that there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about it, besides the fact that it was completely empty.

Their door was closed behind them, and the supposed five minutes came and went faster than expected, four inky-black seals becoming visible on each wall of the room, lighting up in a bright blue-white before the room began distorting and fading out of view as the foreign chakra entered their systems and the genjutsu took hold.

The next thing they knew they were in a room not unlike their previous one, save for the pools and splatters of blood scattered around the walls and floor of the room, a dense and heavy deathly-metallic smell coating the air.

It was suffocating, and the two males fought a hard battle with their stomachs, barely managing to keep the rising bile from escaping their mouths within the first few seconds. The lone female member of the team was not so strong-willed and was quick to empty the contents of her stomach. It wasn't long before the other two males followed suit however, the dead body strapped to a vertical pole in the middle of the room pushing them over the edge. At least they knew where the volatile smell was coming from now.

It wasn't nearly so much the sight of the dead body as it was the heavy smell of blood and death lingering in the air that sent waves of diziness through each genin's head, all three fighting with the strong urge to regurgitate the rest of their breakfast. It was an uphill battle to say the least.

It was their brunette teammate that was the first to shakily get back onto his feet, roughly wiping at his mouth with his shirt sleeve as he stumbled towards the body with watery eyes. "C-Come on guys... you gotta pull yourselves together... r-remember, this isn't real... it's nothing but a g-genjutsu..."

"Y-Yeah... a lot easier... said than done..." Naruto wheezed out in between shaky breaths, crawling over to Shiho and gingerly rubbing her back, trying his best to comfort his female friend and teammate. "You all right... Shiho-chan?"

The girl slowly looked up into a pair of concerned azure-blue eyes, and she managed a shaky nod before adjusting her glasses with a shivering hand, letting out a small cough as she placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "T-Thank you Uzumaki-kun... but Shūhei-kun is correct. T-This is nothing more than a genjutsu... a powerful one at that, but a genjutsu nonetheless..."

She slowly pushed herself onto shaky legs and courageously trodded on towards the body in the middle, the fact that they were in a genjutsu being pushed to the forefront of her mind in order to curb any further urges to retch.

Naruto nodded shakily and managed to stumble onto his legs as well, stopping besides his two teammates as they all stared at the body once more, Naruto untying his bandana and reattaching it around his mouth and nasal area. "So, we've already used up a solid five minutes, which leaves us with 15 to get this code... any ideas?"

The question that was on all their minds echoed through their heads, but Naruto was hoping more than anything that his two braniac's for teammates would already have an inkling as to what they were looking for.

"Given the situation we've been placed in, along with our objective, I think it's safe to assume that the four-digit code we're looking for is somewhere on this guy's body," Shūhei muttered with a frown, his voice muffled by the arm covering his nose.

It was a pretty astute assumption all things considered, and the lone female on the team nodded her agreement as she began removing the body's items of clothing, scattering them across the dirty floor, once again fighting down her gag reflex. "I-I suppose we better start searching then."

Grabbing the nearest article of clothing, Shiho began rummaging through the pockets of the prisoner's thick grey overcoat, doing her utmost best to ignore the splotches of blood coating the outer material, as well as the odd squelch that would echo through the room as she squeezed a particularly soaked patch of polyester.

Shūhei grabbed the two pouches that had been attached to the man's hip, the two packs surprisingly clean. The man's overcoat had done an excellent job of taking the brunt of the blood, and the fact that his undergarments weren't soaked to the bone in the scarlet liquid gave rise to the idea that all this blood did not belong to the man they were searching. It was a fair observation, but one that was placed at the very back of Shūhei's mind as he realised its unimportance in their current situation. Their only goal was finding that code. He needed to focus.

Naruto continued searching through the many pockets lining the man's pants, in hopes of possibly finding something that resembled the four-digit code they were looking for... but to no avail. His efforts so far proved less than hopeless, and the stress of slowly losing time was running his mind ragged! Couple that with the ever present tang of blood and death wafting through the air, and he was fast developing a throbbing migraine that was only destroying what little concentration he still possessed.

He chanced a glance at his brunette friend only to find that he was in a seemingly similar state of mind, even worse-so if his slowly deepening scowl and sweaty brow was any indication. This fact was further reinforced by said brunette jumping to his feet and nailing the pouches at the nearest wall, his cry of indignation echoing throughout the small room.

"Argh, this is fucking hopeless! How are we supposed to find some fucking four-digit code on this guy with only 20 minutes?!" the brunette raged, falling to his hands and knees as he turned his glare to the blood soaked floor. "I don't see the point in some stupid exam like this!"

Naruto frowned at his friend and just continued searching through the pair of pants he still had in his grasp, turning the material inside out to widen his search. "Stop whining about it and just help us find this thing! We hate this just as much as you do," Naruto shot back, his blue eyes scouring every inch of the clothing.

Shūhei clenched his fists and punched at the floor, his eyes shut tight as he continued to express his rage. "I already told you, this test is absolute bull shit! What's the point?! How can they expect us to—"

"For fuck's sake pull yourself together Shūhei!" Naruto cried angrily, his intense glare piercing the brunette's green eyes. "We're all hot and bothered, the constant smell of blood and death is driving me insane, and I'm pretty sure the lack of ventilation is making it harder to breathe in here! And your whining isn't making it any better y'know!"

The brunette's eyes were wide at the blonde's outburst, and Naruto panted heavily with a scowl on his face for a few seconds. His expression softened however after he realised how harsh he'd been, and he palmed his face before glancing wearily at his best friend. "Listen, I know it's difficult, but we have to push on. These are the Chūnin Exams for a reason – no one ever said they were going to be easy... this is what we've been training for remember?"

Something seemed to snap in the brunette, and he slowly looked back up at his blonde best friend, an apologetic look in his eyes as he nodded slowly. "I'm sorry guys, I don't know what came over me..."

"It's this genjutsu," Shiho quickly clarified, having now moved onto the dead body's undershirt, her breathing becoming slightly heavier as well as a light sheen of sweat beginning to coat her brow. "It's not just effecting the area around us; it's subtly affecting our minds, and the stress it's placing on our subconscious is sending our emotions into turmoil."

The brunette quickly shook his head, and stepped back over to the body, his eyes narrowed in concentration. "Okay, so we're looking for a hidden code, and right off the top of my head, the only methods for concealing information I can think of is cryptography, steganography—"

"I think I've got it!" Shiho exclaimed loudly as she grabbed the clothes once more and began re-examining them more closely, her eyes searching the linings of each article of clothing with more vigour than before.

"What's steganography?" Naruto asked his friend curiously, crouching next to Shiho as she picked apart the clothes with her eyes, eventually going so far as to rip the clothing in order to increase the area of her search.

"It's the art of concealing messages or information within other messages or information," explained Shūhei, watching the blonde female with just as much interest as she continued to pick apart the man's clothes. "I guess you could say it's the next level of ciphering after cryptography."

Shiho nodded her head as she threw the remains of the man's undershirt away before diving for the shoes, looking around inside the boot before removing the insole. "You basically hide a message in a message that's written in plain sight, but it avoids scrutiny because you become solely focused on the message you _can_ see, which effectively makes it the next step in ciphering."

Naruto slowly nodded his head, but they were quickly losing time, and a frown made its way onto his face as he continued to watch his teammate. The blonde opened his mouth to voice his thoughts, but he paused in his speech to watch curiously as the female blonde removed a kunai from her pouch and wedged it in between the thick sole of the boot, rending it from the material, only to frown as she found nothing.

She picked up the last boot and closed her eyes in a quick silent prayer. 'Here goes nothing...' Wedging her kunai blade in between the next shoe's sole, she separated the two components and squealed in joy as a small card fell onto the ground. "Yes! That must be the code! What does it say Naruto?"

The whiskered blonde picked up the piece of paper by his feet and a massive grin threatened to split his face as he spied the four-digit code printed clear as day on the left side of the page, right beside the Hokage's wax seal. "Five-three-two-three... Nice work Shiho-chan!"

The female blonde released a sigh and relaxed her body as they finally found what they were looking for, and Naruto handed the card over to his brunette best friend, the other male just as curious to see what was printed on the page.

Naruto did a quick little victory jig before moving over to the door with a broad smile. "All right you guys, let's get the fuck outta here! As much as I like the smell of death, I think we're just about out of time too y'know."

Shiho giggled softly before getting to her feet and following Naruto's lead, the whiskered blonde's hand already reaching for the door knob—

"Naruto wait! That's the wrong code!" Shūhei shouted urgently, his eyes wide as he ran up to the blonde duo with the page in his left hand and a kunai in his right. "Look..." Bringing the kunai to the page, he began scratching at the wax seal before it slowly peeled away, four more numbers being revealed underneath. "Eight-seven-eight-three..."

"Whoa," Naruto breathed out, his eyes wide as he met his best friend's, a humourless chuckle escaping his lips. "That was a close one, wasn't it? What did you call it – steganography?"

Shiho surprised them all however by urgently shoving them all at the door, forcing them to start moving. "Yes! That's right! But we have the code now, and we're almost out of time! So let's make haste!"

The trio quickly opened the door and almost fell to their hands and knees as the effects of the genjutsu slowly washed away, all three members' heads now thoroughly throbbing from the invasive chakra. The three were all completely covered in sweat, their clothes sticking hotly to their heavily panting bodies. It was a most uncomfortable feeling, and the touch of the cool afternoon air blowing through the corridor was a blessing sent from Kami herself.

"W-What the actual fuck?" came the intelligent question from the brunette shinobi of Team Genma, his hand pressed flatly against his left throbbing temple in an attempt to relieve the pain. "Non-lethal genjutsu my ass..." he wheezed softly, a sharp stinging still lingering in his head. However before more could be said a hand touched his forehead and the lingering invasive chakra was quickly dispelled, a warm feeling washing over him as a newly invading chakra purged his body of the earlier one.

The same procedure was followed for all three genin, and they looked up to find a cheekily smiling Kotetsu standing above them, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes. "You guys made it out with five seconds to spare; cutting it a little close wouldn't you say?" he asked rhetorically with a small chuckle, crouching down to look at them in their eyes. "Only 20 teams managed to make it out in time, leaving three spots still available, so all you need to do now is give me your correct code and you advance to the next round."

A heavily breathing Shūhei threw his right hand up where he remembered the small page being held firmly within his fingers, and he let out a small cough of confusion before he remembered that it was all part of the genjutsu. "T-That really is some genjutsu..." he rasped softly, beads of hot sweat rolling down the side of his face.

Kotetsu chuckled again as he glanced up and down the corridor, most other teams all suffering similar side effects from the genjutsu, while others looked perfectly healthy. "Yeah, each room's genjutsu differs in potency, and you guys just happened to be assigned one of the most intense we've got setup."

"Yeah, just our luck," the brunette breathed while sending the smallest of glares in Naruto's direction. The chūnin was no stranger to Naruto's inate ability to somehow attract trouble wherever he went, having heard about his exploits from the brunette during several visits. It really was a special gift... Pfft, as if.

"Eight-seven-eight-three," Naruto quickly shot at the chūnin with a shit-eating grin. His body was still quite sweaty from the entire exam, but his breathing was noticeably more even, and it seemed as if he was more or less fine again.

If possible Kotetsu's smile broadened and he pulled out a clip board while simultaneously ticking the number corresponding to their team. "Congratulations! Team Genma passes the first exam," he exclaimed, giving the whiskered blonde an overpowered backslap as repayment for his pantsing-stunt a few weeks ago, causing said blonde to pitch forward and fall flat on his face. "All passing candidates are required to move through to the waiting hall at the end of this corridor, so go take it easy until the other half finishes up... you guys did well."

The sincerity in his voice brought a small smile to Shūhei's face, and the trio sans Naruto, whose face was set in a deep scowl as he peeled it from the floor, nodded thankfully before moving as a unit into the waiting area. Turning the corner at the end of the corridor, they found themselves in what seemed like a massive lecture hall, not unlike the one they found themselves in earlier when the proctor Morino Ibiki gave them his presentation.

It had rows and rows of desks all facing the front of the class which sported a sizeable teacher's desk and a massive blackboard. Glancing around it seemed that quite a few more teams had made it as well, shinobi from different villages scattered throughout the classroom.

The genin of Team Genma shared a quick glance before shrugging and moving over to a seat nearest the row of windows, relishing in the soft breeze that was filtering through the barriers. "Wake me up as soon as something important happens," Shūhei muttered softly, his voice already muffled by his arms as he lay his head atop them.

The lone female teammate proceeded to mimick her brunette friend, and Naruto was soon the only conscious member of Team Genma. Ever the vibrant ball of energy however, Naruto's eyes took to scanning the room instead, glancing at all their potential competitors.

The only team that he recognised immediately was Team Gai, their eye-sore of a teammate who was clad in a green jumpsuit instantly drawing his attention. It was a miracle Konoha's Handsome Devil hadn't spotted him yet, the subsequent interaction slash torture too terrible a prospect for the blonde. On that note however he ducked his body a little lower, using the cover his dosing brunette friend provided to keep out of Rock Lee's range.

It wasn't that he was a bad guy... far from it in fact. He was probably one of the nicest guys he'd had the displeasure of meeting. Keyword being displeasure. The boy was just too overzealous for his own good, and Naruto could only take so much 'Flames of youth!' at any given time. He hated to be a hypocrite, knowing that many thought of him in the same way, but there was no other way to put it.

He panned his head a little further to the right, and he eventually made eye contact with someone that immediately sent a small shiver running down the back of his spine. Sabaku no Gaara, jinchūriki of the Shukaku no Ichibi. The red-haired youth's eyes were boring straight through Naruto's skull, and the intensity of the stare was unnerving the blonde something fierce. 'So, him again huh?'

Naruto felt a small nod from Kurama as the tailed beast within him lifted its head ever so slightly within his mindscape. **_'My weak and foolish brother Shukaku. His weak constitution drives him to torment his jailors, usually resulting in the jinchūriki developing an acute case of insomnia...'_**

'Sheesh... sounds pretty rough,' Naruto thought slowly, glancing out the window at the cloudy afternoon sky. 'Why would he do that?' Naruto questioned, although after feeling Kurama's angry huff, he almost wished he hadn't.

**_'Because that loathsome tanuki is nothing but an insecure coward!'_** the nine-tailed fox roared, slamming its tails against the ground. **_'I despise him for his decrepit nature, wallowing in his insanity after the loss of our father—'_**

Kurama bit his tongue and immediately halted in his tirade, once again placing his head upon his arms. **_'Just forget about it. It is of no consequence... just be mindful of his host. He will most likely possess the same sand-wielding abilities as that pathetic tanuki...'_** With his last part said, all went quiet within Naruto's mindscape once again as the Kyūbi pledged itself to a much needed nap.

Naruto chanced a glance back towards the red-haired boy and found that he was no longer being given the death stare, however he was receiving a few shielded glances from his two teammates; the one with the fan and the onesy-wearing cross-dresser. 'Seems they're still a little sour from the beat down I gave them a few days ago... Hmph, serves them right, picking on a kid the way they were y'know.'

Naruto decided to forget about the team from Suna for the time being and opted to just enjoy the small breeze that continued to gently brush against his sweaty brow, a wave of coolness washing over him. He barely took note of the ever increasing number of teams filing into the room, and it wasn't until the clearing of a throat was heard through the meeting hall did he focus his eyes ahead of him again.

It was the proctor from before, Morino Ibiki, prompting Naruto to tap the shoulder's of his two teammates so that they could hear what had to be said as well.

The tall man waited a few more seconds for the last of the genin to grab a seat before straightening up with his hands held behind his back. "As you've all already been made aware, you candidates seated in this room are the ones who successfully located your code. You were able to keep a cool head in the extremely diverse situations you found yourselves in, and for that you have my respect."

His eyes did a sweep of the hall before he took to slowly pacing the front of the room, his hands still firmly locked behind his back. "In this shinobi world you young find yourselves in, it isn't the big who beat down on the small anymore, but the fast who destroy the slow. Time is a most important facet in this ever changing shinobi world, and those with the ability to create more time for themselves will more than likely be the very few who will live past the age of 30."

Stopping back in the centre of the hall, he leaned back against the front of the desk and slowly brought his hands to his bandanna, gingerly untying the straps from behind. "As important as time is however, information is just as much so, and the ability to acquire information in the field will more often than not save a comrade's life. Your inability to garner such information could result in the death of your comrades, or worse – their capture. At least in death the pain is over in an instant, however if you are taken as prisoner by the enemy, expect to be in for a world of hurt..."

He slowly removed the bandanna from his head, and a magnanamous gasp coupled with several hisses echoed throughout the hall, each and every genin gazing sympathetically at the series of cuts, scars, puncture wounds and scorch marks that littered the veteran shinobi's scalp. It was a truly horrific sight, and they could only imagine the kind of torture he must have had to go through in order to acquire those mementos of battle.

He quickly retied his bandanna and did another sweep of the room, panning from left to right before something in his peripherals caught his attention. In the next instant, a small black blur shot right through the window of the hall, sending glass shards scattering across the wooden floor. With a few well placed kunai throws and a loud exclamation of 'Introducing... Mitirashi Anko!', a massive banner was erected in the front of the hall, a violet-haired woman of average height shooting into the hall and striking an overly exagerrated pose, her left hand held up in the peace sign while she clutched at an unfinished dango skewer with her right.

She had light brown pupil-less eyes, and her violet hair was tied up in a short and spiky fanned-ponytail. She was wearing a tan overcoat with orange skirt and a mesh body suit beneath, with pale-grey shin guards covering her lower legs. Her mesh shirt though didn't leave much to the imagination, and whether she was oblivious to the blatant stares she was receiving or not was debatable, because there was no doubt that she had the attention of most if not all the males in the room.

"Congratulations Anko..." Ibiki started while dipping his head around the large banner that was obscuring him from view. "You've managed to arrive well before the set time once again."

His voice held no ill-will, and his lips twitched into a small smirk as he spied the slowly reddening of her cheeks. "Ah, just shut it Ibiki... I arrived perfectly on time, it was you and your boring speech that caused your bit to run overtime again."

There eyes briefly met, and the tension in the room reached a palpable level before the violet-haired kunoichi tore her eyes away with a chuckle and stared back out at the gathered genin. "Who am kidding scarface, you're probably right!" She chuckled again before looking back at 'scarface' with a confused look. "Your test might be tailored to get rid of at least half Ibiki, but there's still way too many of them."

"Maybe we just have ourselves an outstanding crop this year," he offered half-heartedly with a shrug, not really caring either way. He had done his job, and he had done it exactly as asked. There was nothing more to it.

Anko scoffed softly while turning back on the genin. "Or maybe you're just getting soft scarface. Regardless," she began, her eyes twinkling maliciously and her smile glinting evilly. "... I can guarantee there'll be no more than 12 teams standing by the time I'm done with them." She cackled loudly before finishing the rest of her dango off, pointing the now empty skewer at the genin. "By some otherwordly inervention you've been given the rest of the day off, but rest assured that come dawn tomorrow, you'll wish you'd never been born. You'll find all the necessary information with your jōnin-sensei, so hop to it you maggots! I'll see you lot tomorrow!"

And with that, she was gone, leaving the rest of the genin in silence who looked just as confused as Ibiki felt. 'That woman... as eccentric as ever I see...' Clearing his throat, the proctor for the first exam stared down at the genin for a few seconds before making a shooing motion with his hands. "Well, you heard her – you're jōnin-sensei are the ones who have your information for the next exam, so go find them... or don't, I couldn't care less, just as long as you get out of my sight."

The genin made no move to vacate the area with any kind of speed, and Ibiki figured they probably needed a little motivation. "... NOW!" The results were instantaneous, and so were the genin's departures. They were out of that hall faster than the proctor would've thought possible, but he let out a hearty sigh as they finally disappeared. "Kids... aren't they just wonderful..."

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_Konoha rooftops, several minutes earlier..._

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Hatake Kakashi, famous elite jōnin of Konohagakure no Sato; known as Sharingan no Kakashi all around the Elemental nations; known for his various exploits as a shinobi, the most prominent being having mastered over 1000 jutsu. He was a genius and a prodigy in every sense of the words, and he was without a doubt one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha.

He was never one to be seen without a copy of his precious Icha Icha, his nose 95 percent of the time placed firmly inside the literature of his choice. His book however was conspicuously absent, a testament to the seriousness of the situation he currently found himself in. He was currently leaning against the side of a massive water tank atop one of the many rooftops of Konoha, his eyes meeting those of another man who was equally as serious in the current situation.

"Why'd you call me up here Kakashi? If you wanted an autograph all you needed to do was ask," Jiraiya of the Sannin voiced with a small amount of amuesment, a small grin tugging at his lips. The lack of reaction from Kakashi however prompted him to dispense of any pleasantries, and an uncharacteristic frown creased his visage. "What's really going on here Kakashi?"

The one-eyed jōnin casually shrugged his shoulders as he continued to watch the man from his standing position, his hands lazily hanging from his pockets. "I have a very good idea of what this is all about, but why don't we just wait on Genma to explain everything. He's the one who called me here after all."

The toad sage of Konoha nodded his head slowly, and within the next couple of minutes three men appeared up on the rooftop along with Jiraiya and Kakashi. These three men were none other than Shiranui Genma himself, Namiashi Raidō and Tatami Iwashi, the one thing each of these men held in common being their partnership in the guarding of the late Yondaime Hokage.

Iwashi was a man of average height with dark eyes, brown hair and a small goatee. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi uniform and wore his hitai-ate around his forehead like a bandanna. The other man, Raidō, had dark eyes and brown spiky hair, with the standard Konoha shinobi uniform and hitai-ate. His most identifiable trait however was the scar running across the bridge of his nose to the left side of his face.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long Kakashi, Jiraiya-sama," Genma started, placing his hands in his pockets as he strolled forward with his senbon hanging from his mouth. "Although, I'm surprised you're even here on time Kakashi... it really isn't like you," he added with a small smirk, beckoning his two companions to move in a little closer.

Kakashi eye smiled at the tokubetsu jōnin with another small shrug of the shoulders. "I had a feeling that this was going to be an important discussion."

Genma nodded his head and turned to Jiraiya with a serious expression. "Could you put up a small silencing seal around us Jiraiya-sama? This topic is of an extremely sensitive nature."

Jiraiya gave a quick nod before fishing out a small piece of paper that was filled out with various kanji and the like, placing it down on the rooftop in between the makeshift circle they had going. With his left hand on the page and his right hand in the Ram seal, he focused a bit of chakra before the seal spider-webbed out around the group, a translucent barrier forming around the gathered shinobi before the white-haired man got back to his feet and nodded at the person who'd called the meeting. "Now what's this all about?"

Genma glanced between each shinobi, quietly gauging their expressions and forming the right words to use before once again looking at the toad sage. "Well I'm almost positive that Kakashi already knows, but for those of you who don't, I'm gonna be frank – it's about Minato-sama's legacy..."

The two men whom Genma had arrived with both had wide eyes, however Kakashi and Jiraiya betrayed no emotion, not even blinking. Jiraiya's face however slowly morphed into frown, and his fists unknowingly clenched at his sides as he took in the information.

"What nonsense is this?! We all know that Minato and his family sacrificed themselves to protect the village... there's a family grave for the three of them for Kami's sake!" Jiraiya's face had now morphed into a scowl, and he couldn't believe that this guy was insinuating something so foolish. Minato was his most precious student, and it felt like his sacrifice, as well as his family's was being tarnished, and he would not stand for it. "If this is some kind of practical joke, it's not funny, not in the least, and I'll beat the crap out of you right now if it is."

By now Jiraiya was leaking a considerable amount of killing intent, however the stoic-as-ever Genma kept a serious face, and he narrowed his eyes at the tall man. "I know Minato-sama and his family sacrificed themselves... I've visited their graves more times than I can count – this isn't something I'd make light of."

Kakashi chose that point to intervene, and with a quick throat clearance, he had all their attention. "Trust me Jiraiya, I've seen the boy myself, and I agree completely with Genma. He's the spitting image of Minato-sensei. There are similarities, too many to simply be coincidences..."

Jiraiya huffed indignantly as he faced away from the copy ninja and folded his arms across his chest, a small frown marring his face. "I don't care how much he looks like Minato, there's only one way I'll give whatever you're saying any merit, and that's if I see the boy myself."

Genma's frown slowly receded, and he placed the senbon he'd instinctually removed from his mouth back between his teeth, his earlier calm expression back in place. "Fair enough. But he is Minato-sama's son, so with that in mind, I'd like to move onto my next point." Jiraiya gave another small huff, and Genma took that as his cue to continue. "We all know what Minato-sama's plan was to stop the Kyūbi that night 13 years ago, which means that this boy should theoretically be the jinchūriki for the Kyūbi."

"I remember," Raidō slowly began, his brow knitted in slight confusion. "I'd never seen Yondaime-sama so torn before... that he'd have to use his own son for the sealing..."

Genma's face became slightly melancholic as he thought back to that fateful day, but he slowly shook his head of the thoughts and focused back on the topic at hand. "Any ways—and I'm sure Jiraiya-sama will be able to fill in any blanks—but I've recently heard rumours, mostly in passing though, of a group of shinobi that are hunting down jinchūriki... how far off base am I?"

The question was directed to the back of Jiraiya, and the man glanced at Genma out of the corner of his eye, a frown still creasing his brow. "You're on the right track..." At their prodding expressions, he sighed and slowly turned around, his arms still folded guardedly across his chest. "Their an organisation made up of several S-ranked missing-nin called Akatsuki, and my wayward teammate used to belong to them before he was chased out."

Iwashi let out a low whistle at that, his face showing his surprise. "To be able to chase out the likes of Orochimaru... they really must be a band of next-level shinobi..."

Jiraiya nodded his head at the man's exclamation, and he turned back to Genma. "He's right though, for them to be able to scare off my teammate... it's scary to think of the kind of people who could do that. Aside from that though, I'm assuming you want me to keep an eye on the boy; although, I can guarantee you that he's not who you say he is."

Genma nodded his head, his eyes rolling at the man's insistence of Naruto not being Minato's son. "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm asking. He's a good kid, and if this 'Akatsuki' is gonna be gunning for him, I want to make sure that he's safe."

Jiraiya's expression became thoughtful for a second before it reverted back to his previous scowl. "I had always planned on training the kid, I am—was, I was his godfather, so naturally I was going to teach him everything I knew. I'm not making any promises, but at the least I'll check the kid out."

Genma gave the toad sage a grateful smile before turning to the rest of the group. "I'd like to ask if all you guys could keep an eye on him as well... for Minato-sama's sake."

There was a round of nods before he smiled at all of them as well, his hands finding his pockets again and a thin smile twitching at his lips. "Well I guess this discussion is over then. I'll see you guys around. I'm almost positive I have a team of genin who are in need of congratulations, and Kakashi might be in the same boat." With a small nod at Jiraiya, he along with Kakashi shunshined away, the other two members of the Yondaime's bodyguard disappearing as well.

Jiraiya was left by himself on the rooftop, a small frown still on his face as he stared out at the face of the Yondaime Hokage engraved on the side of the mountain overshadowing Konoha. 'Minato... I still don't think it's possible, but whatever the case, if what they're saying is true, I'll train the kid as best I know how. I'll make sure he's ready to take on Akatsuki. He may just be the child of prophecy Ōgama Sennin foretold all those years ago...'

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_**AN: And that's a wrap people! Well, that's my version of the first stage, and I still don't feel too good about this chapter, but regardless I'm gonna try and make up for it in the next stage... I've decided to keep the second stage relatively the same... to be honest, I didn't find too much wrong with the second stage in canon, so I think I'll just leave it like it is, obviously with my own added goodies as well :D**_

_**Let me know what you thought of this chapter though... I had them gathering information just like in the canon first stage, however I felt like they weren't really pressured enough into getting the info that they needed, so I tried to portray that with the way I designed this first exam, hopefully I sort of hit my mark? Please review or PM me and let me know your honest opinions... don't hold back, let me hear your thoughts!**_

_**I know there wasn't a lot of action this chapter, but I should fix that up in the next stage. I'll try and make it as entertaing as possible! Because of that snag with regards to my exam that I mentioned earlier, my schedule is slightly messed, so I'm not too sure when I'll be able to get out another chapter, but I'll work on it as soon as I get the time, and you guys will be the first to know when it's done ;)**_

_**Okay, just a quick rant from me... Naruto is finally over! After 15 long years, it's finally done, and I can't say I'm too happy with how it ended... I won't even get into the Sasuke aspect of things, but just the fact that Naruto and Hinata ended up together (sorry NaruHina lovers) really rubbed me the wrong way... even though I saw it coming from a while ago already, I just thought I'd voice my thoughts...**_

_**Sorry for that, I'm sure I'm probably boring you guys, so I'll let you go on with whatever it was you were doing before you decided to take time out to read my chapter... thanks for that by the way, and enjoy the holidays if you have them :)**_

_**Till next time...**_


	12. Monkey Business

**_AN: Hey guys, how're you doing? If you guys are on holidays, hope you're enjoying them just as much as I am =) Mine have been busy busy busy, which is why it took so long for me to update, which I am super sorry about. It's been quite difficult to find time to write, but I managed a chapter, so that's why we're here =) It's a touch shorter than most of my chapters, but it's still a decent length, so enjoy :) Just gonna answer the few reviews I got quick and then onto the chapter, so skip the next few lines if answering reviews annoys you._**

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butterflypuss - Hey bud, thanks for the review, glad you enjoyed the chap and I hope you enjoy this one =)

\- Yep, that's correct, only first exam at 100k words o_O Got a problem with it, please feel free to discontinue from reading further and refrain from posting your destructive criticism... it's not welcome here :P

RandomWriter21 - Hehe, thanks for the review bud, glad to hear you enjoyed the chapter and my little exam twist =) I wasn't too sure about it, but you seemed to think it was good, which is good enough for me =) Here's the next chap, so enjoy =) I look forward to hearing from you again ;)

Kairan1979 - Hey bud, good to see a new face, and thanks for the review. Glad you've enjoyed it so far, and I look forward to hearing from you again =) Enjoy the chaoter ;)

Yana5 - Hey Yana, good to see a review from you as always =) Glad you enjoyed the last chap, and here's the next one, specially for you (P.S don't tell the others) ;)

Kasharo - Hehe, thanks for the compliment bud, I really appreciate it! I'm glad you've enjoyed things so far, and I tried to be as original as possible with the first exam, so glad you enjoyed it =) Here's the next chapter, so hope you enjoy it =) Read and review please ;)

LordHero - Thanks bud, I didn't really like the first exam from canon, so I felt I had to change it somehow, so I'm glad you liked it! And you're right about finding out about Naruto's heritage, but that's only for later ;) I agree completely with what you said regarding the ending of Naruto, and the end was almost exactly like Hinata's 'dream'. I didn't like the ending at all, I just hope this new Naruto movie is gonna be up to scratch... fingers crossed =D Any ways, enjoy the chapter, looking forward to hearing from you again ;)

euroteres - Hey euro, nice to see a new face, and I agree completely. I haven't actually read a single fanfic with Tsuki no Kuni included, so that factored heavily into my thinking up of the story in the beginnning. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, and I hope I continue to impress =) Enjoy the chapter, and I hope to hear from you again soon :)

skg1991 - Hey bud, thanks for the review again, and I appreciate your enthusiasm! :) It always get's me into a writing mood lol! Here's the next chapter, so I hope it's up to standards =)

otakuninja14 - Haha, reading your revied got me really excited lol! It got a smile out of me, and those are the best kinds of reviews, so thanks for this one! :) Good to hear you're looking forward to the next chapter, hope this is up to scratch then :)

UzumakiKirofu - Hehe, that's correct, I am back and writing once again :) Here's the next chapter, so hope to hear from you again and hope you enjoy this chapter :)

Guest - Wish you had a name for me to call you by, but thanks for the review, glad you think this story is good and thanks for the compliment :) I don't think my writing is too bad, so I'm glad you think it's half decent :)

Kronus96 - Hey bud, good to see a new face, and thanks for the reviews, I really appreciate your constructive criticism. I actually went back to the first chapter and looked back at the Kurama scene, and I completely agree that it didn't flow too well... A mistake on my part, and I'm actually quite disappointed with myself for doing that. Glad you love the story itself though, I have tried fairly hard with it :) I also felt that Genma wasn't used much, and I really liked his character, so I had to work him in =) Yeah, I'm looking forward to the Jiraiya/Naruto meeting myself, I just hope I don't disappoint, which is a big fear at this point :D Haha, with regards to the Ino comment, I couldn't agree more, and I had a ton of fun writing that part up =) Haha, sorry you didn't enjoy the exam, but I had to change it up somehow, and throwing in a bit of mental torture to add to the realism of being a shinobi, hope I got it down :) Thanks for the vote of confidence, I appreciate it, truly I do =) Haha, Jiraiya does seem to find a lot of most writers' ires, but he will redeem himself... I myself really like Jiraiya, so I can't have him receiving all the negative attention =D Glad to see overall that you're enjoying the story, and I hope this next chapter is up to scratch =) Let me know what you think, I looked forward to your review :)

* * *

_**Okay, that's it for reviews being answered, on to the actual chapter I think. Hopefully you enjoy it :)**_

**Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 12: Monkey Business..._

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Outside Konoha Academy, early evening..._

* * *

When Genma finally arrived at the Academy after his group discussion with Jiraiya, Kakashi and the former bodyguard of the Yondaime Hokage, he came upon the slightly amusing sight of his team huffing and puffing breathlessly with slightly fearful looks on their faces. They were huddled around the small swing that hung on the tree in front of the Academy, and he lazily strolled up to them with that same ever-present smirk, his senbon casually hanging from between his lips. "So what's got you guys so worked up?"

The team of genin jumped in fright momentarily before rounding on their sensei with relieved looks on their faces, their bodies all visibly relaxing as they slumped to the ground, each one leaning against the shoulder of the other, with Naruto leaning against the tree itself. The whiskered-blonde's face twitched into a beaming grin however as he glanced up at his sensei, completely disregarding the question sent their way. "So sensei, apparently you have some kind of information for us about the second exam..."

The rest of the genin smiled proudly at their sensei after Naruto had spoken, and the bandanna-clad jōnin flashed them a small smile himself. "Heh, indeed I do. I'm proud of you guys, so how's about we head over to Yakiniku Q's for celebration? I'll explain everything to you guys there – my treat."

Naruto's smiled turned upside-down at that, and he jumped to his feet with his hands flailing about wildly. "B-But sensei, we went there just last week... can't you treat us to something a little more... Ichiraku's?" the blonde whined while rolling his hand in a so-so gesture, his eyes wide as he pleaded for some of the divine food he hadn't had in quite some time. He was about due for another bowl—several bowls—of ramen, and this seemed like the perfect occasion.

"Uzumaki-kun, this is sensei's treat; just smile and say 'thank you'," Shiho chided while fixing her glasses, pulling herself back into a sitting position after her 'pillow' just jumped to his feet and left her for dead.

Naruto crossed his arms childishly while grumbling under his breath, looking away from the group as they knocked his choice for supper once again. He was honestly contemplating going to get ramen by himself while the rest of them went to Yakiniku Q.

Genma simply shrugged his shoulders and shoved his hands in his pockets, gesturing with his head for his trio of genin to follow. "Perfectly fine with me," he intoned casually, a thin smile tugging at his lips. "You know though, chūnin are expected to have a certain level of maturity..." he trailed off while glancing at his whiskered-blonde student out of the corner of his eye, watching with great amusement as his face-splitting grin immediately transformed into a hurt frown as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"I couldn't agree more sensei," Shūhei piped in while jumping to his feet and running past the stagnant blonde in a fit of chuckles, smacking the blonde lightly on the back as he past him. "Come on kiddo, we've got some ramen waiting for us," he teased while walking alongside his sensei with a noticeable skip in his step. It wasn't everyday that somebody managed to pull one over the blonde, so Shūhei was more than happy with the current situation.

Naruto remained rooted to his spot, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as the words rang through his head. **_'I think that your needle-chewing sensei might be onto something,'_** Kurama snickered while resting his head atop his forearms. **_'Although immature might be too lenient in my opinion.'_**

"Immature?" Naruto questioned softly, lifting his head only to realise that his team and sensei were no longer in sight. "Hey?! Wait for me!" he announced loudly, darting down the street in the direction he knew the food stand to be. "The food of Kami herself awaits!"

Kurama just shook his head as he closed his eyes once more with an amused huff. **_'Hmph... case and point gaki...'_**

* * *

_Training ground 44, early the next morning..._

* * *

"... And that makes genin team number 40," the violet-haired proctor intoned happily from her seated position, finishing off yet another dango skewer and nailing it into the side of a tree several metres to her right, the symbol for Konoha clearly visible in the bark. "Good of you to finally join us Kusa-nin," she nodded with a smirk on her face, jumping to her feet and rubbing her hands together. "Now we can finally get this thing started!"

"Well isn't she just the enthusiastic one," Shikamaru muttered softly to the whiskered blonde standing beside him, Team Genma and Team Asuma grouped together off to the far left of all the genin.

Naruto nodded his head slowly, a soft snicker escaping his lips. "Let me guess... Troublesome?" The blonde glanced to his right at his pineapple-haired friend, but before he could reply, a small cut appeared on Naruto's cheek as a kunai whizzed past his face at the speed of a bullet.

Before Naruto knew what was happening, he was grabbed from behind with a firm grip, the two hands on his shoulders keeping him firmly rooted to the ground. It was the warm breath on his neck however that sent a small shiver up his spine, and it was sending a few unwanted sensations through his body, particularly in the direction of his nether regions. "What was that you said whiskers?" a sultry voice whispered into his ear, a pair of soft mounds that felt eerily similar to breasts being pressed into his back, sending those unwanted sensations through Naruto's body again.

The blonde gulped audibly as he spied the violet-haired woman out of the corner of his eye, her glinting hazlenut eyes twinkling in amusement. The amusement dancing around her eyes seemed to snap something within Naruto, and he gulped one more time before a small cheeky grin twitched at his lips. "I was right... Troublesome indeed..."

If anything the violette's grin seemed to widen, and she chuckled softly from her position behind the genin. "Heh, you've got balls kid... and I like balls," she purred softly, extending her tongue and licking off the blood dripping down his whiskered cheek.

Naruto's cheeky grin faltered and he gulped audibly once again, goosebumps running up and down his spine. 'This lady's fucking crazy!' he thought with widened eyes, her warm tongue now caressing his sleek cut. It was the most bizarre situation, and once her tongue found his cheek he lost all cognitive thought processes.

Naruto was about to lamely stutter a response that would've most definitely dug himself deeper into the whole he was currently in, but he and the violette proctor were interrupted by the intrusion of one of the late Kusa genin from before, the female genin in question holding the kunai from seconds ago firmly within her—

'What the fuck! She's holding that kunai with her tongue!? That's disgusting!' Naruto's eyes were wider than before, and the disgust he felt for a brief second was quickly squashed by the oppressive killing intent that was now being leaked by the purple-haired kunoichi, her eyes narrowed at the genin standing directly behind her.

"You better not sneak up on me like that again if you wanna keep your head firmly attached to the rest of your body," Anko chirped softly, a small smirk pulling at her lips as she slowly removed a kunai from the Kusa-nin's neck.

The Kusa genin simply smiled evilly, a small hiss escaping her lips as she bowed her head slightly. "My apologies Proctor-san... I was only returning your blade, but the sight of that blood got me a little... excited, kukuku."

The sound of the genin's laugh sent the smallest of shudders down Anko's spine, nightmare's from a time long since past momentarily springing to the forefront of her mind. They were quickly shaken off though, and the violette quickly retrieved her kunai before leaning down towards the blonde's ear, tracing her tongue up the side of his neck. "Please do try to behave now whiskers..."

Naruto gulped again and shakily nodded his head, his still wide-eyes just barely making out the tufts of purple hair sticking out to the side behind him. "W-Well, since you asked s-so nicely..."

"I appreciate it whiskers," the purple-haired proctor purred softly, pressing her soft mounds into his back one last time before simply disappearing, reappearing in the front of the group of genin once more with a wide grin. "All right, if that's all we've got for interruptions then on with the show!"

Reaching into her overcoat, she pulled out two nigh-identical scrolls and held them firmly between her fingers, clearly showing the main difference between the two documents. "Between my fingers here I have a Heaven and an Earth scroll, both clearly marked as such on the front. These are going to be fundamental elements in regards to the second phase of the Chūnin Exams, so listen now and listen well, because I won't repeat myself!"

"What was that?" questioned a genin who had a small white dog resting atop his fur-coated hoody-covered head, a small smirk twitching at his lips as he barely held in a chuckle. Inuzuka Kiba if Naruto remembered correctly.

Anko turned to the boy and closed her eyes as she gestured to the scrolls again, waving them slightly for emphasis. "I said these are gonna be fundamental elements in this phase, and I'm not repeating myself—"

Her eyes widened slightly before she slumped her shoulders and pouted comically, her lower lip extending past her upper. "Hey! That's not funny dog-boy," she whined softly before disappearing and reappearing in front of said boy, a snake slithering out from underneath her overcoat and along her arm, right into the boy's face. "I thought I said no more interruptions..." she whispered through gritted teeth, all her playfulness from earlier completely vanished and replaced with an aggitated seriousness. "Don't make me repeat myself again, else I'll be force-feeding that mut of yours something which all you men hold very dear..."

With her parting threat made, Anko once again appeared in front of the gathered genin and cleared her throat, a noticeable twitch in her eyebrow signifying her slowly building annoyance. Reaching into her overcoat once more, she withdrew a massive stack of small papers and waved them lightly above her head. "These are the indemnity forms that all of you will need to sign in order for you to continue with this stage of the exams.

"Death is commonplace during the second phase, and killing, although frowned upon, is not against the rules, so for a lot of you, this will more than likely be your final Chūnin Exams!" she intoned sadistically, her previous irritation forgotten at the sight of the genin's quivering faces. 'Ah, balance has once again been restored,' she thought with a happy sigh. "That being said, for those of you ballsy enough to continue, please come collect an indemnity form from me and fill them out within the next 15 minutes. I'll explain the rest shortly after. For those of you who aren't, well... get the fuck outta here I guess," she offered with a small shrug, moving off to the side to begin handing out forms.

XxX

Out of all the 40 genin teams, only one from Konoha had opted to not sign the forms and departed from the second phase early. The rest were all eager to get this thing started, and waited with thinly veiled trepidation as their purple-haired proctor manouevered herself back onto centre-stage, holding her hands high up in the air to grab the genin's attention.

"All right, now that the wussies have been scared off, let's get down to business!" Glancing to her right, she pointed over to a small booth that had a desk with a couple of chūnin sitting behind. "Half the teams will be given a Heaven scroll, and the other half will be given an Earth scroll; keep in mind that we do have on odd number of teams, so there will be either an extra Heaven or Earth scroll floating around.

"You will be given your scrolls inside that booth, but only once every member of your team hands in a completed indemnity form. You won't be able to see which team has which scroll however, so don't think this is gonna be a nice little walk in the park," she offered with a grin as the chūnin in the booth lowered the curtains that completely hid the inside. "Before I allow you guys to get your scrolls however, I'll quickly give a brief detailing of the terrain within the Forest of Death."

Once again reaching within her overcoat's inner-jacket pocket, she withdrew another considerably bigger scroll which she slowly unfurled to reveal a very basic map of training ground 44. It was round in shape and had a pretty large diameter, covering quite a lot of ground for a training field. It was bisected by a river that branched off into two separate rivers about halfway through the grounds, and there was a fairly large compound marked out right in the centre of the map.

Anko took her left index finger and placed it squarely atop the marked compound, grinning from ear to ear once again. "Your objective will be to make it to this compound within five days, however to successfully gain access and proceed to the last phase, you will need both a Heaven and an Earth scroll, as well as all the members of your team. Under no circumstances are you to open the scrolls until you're inside the compound," she stated seriously, glaring at a few genin who looked to be the overtly-inquisitive type. "Not only will you be disqualified, but you'll receive a nasty surprise should you open your scrolls. Chūnin are often tasked with delivering important documents, so this is specifically designed to test your integrity."

The purple-haired proctor took her index finger and ran it around the outer perimeter of the training ground, indicating the small indentations running every few kilometres. "There are 60 entrance gates located all around the Forest of Death, and each team will be assigned their own gate. Once you've got your scroll, head straight to your gate and await my signal. Now go ahead and get your scrolls maggots!"

"Oh, and some last minute advice," Anko quickly interjected, an evil grin plastering itself on her face. "Try not to die..." With her last part said, she once again disappeared from the clearing, leaving the rest of the genin to get their scrolls.

She had sufficiently struck a decent amount of fear into several of the genin teams, but many were left completely undeterred. For some, killing was nothing new, so this would just be another day in the field, and it would just be another corpse at their feet. As callous and emotionless as it sounded, such was the life of a shinobi.

Team Genma was still located in their same position as before, and although the purple-haired proctor had succeeded in shaking them up a little, their determination was unwavering. They had come here for one reason and one reason alone, and that was to make these Chūnin Exams their bitch and ascend to the next rank in their shinobi careers!

"Well guys, let's go get our scroll then!" It was Naruto who managed to snap out of whatever reverie Anko had managed to place them in first, and his enthusiasm served to bring his teammates out as well, both nodding in his direction and following his lead.

Things promised to be severely dangerous during this next phase at best, potentially fatal at worst. They'd need to keep a clear head for the duration of this exam, otherwise there was the slight chance that it could result in their death. But Naruto wasn't about to let any of his teammates die, not if he could help it. And he was completely confident in the fact that his teammates were thinking on the exact same wave length as him. 'Let's do this!'

* * *

_Outer perimeter of the Forest of Death, gate 39..._

* * *

"This is it guys, the second phase is just about to begin," began the only brunette of team Genma, his excitement similarly mimicked by the rest of his squad. With a small reassuring tap to his rear utilities pouch, he made one last check to ensure that the Heaven scroll his team had been given was secured within, and feeling the familiar scroll safely in his pouch, he smirked at his teammates. "The scroll is safely secured, and while we've got this last bit of time, I suggest we quickly strategise until we find a place to set up camp and formulate a more solid plan."

Shiho nodded her agreement and pushed her glasses up, tightening the sash around her waist. "I agree with Shūhei-kun. We need a plan of action to successfully set up camp you see. Once that's done then we can formulate a plan to find an Earth scroll and get to the compound."

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly with a confused look marring his face. "What do you mean strategise? That sounds like a pretty good plan already – find a place to set up camp for the night where we can plan a proper strategy to get an Earth scroll – what more could you possibly need to plan?"

Shūhei stared at his whiskered-blonde friend for several seconds, his left eye twitching in humiliation as he looked away and towards the forest. "Well, when you put it like that, making a plan does sound kinda redundant..." he mumbled softly, crossing his arms in acceptance.

Shiho giggled from her spot and pushed up her glasses once again, turning to face the gate ahead of them. "If my memory serves me correctly, there are 39 teams and we're at gate 39 ourselves. The gates are set out around the perimeter of the forest in an anti-clockwise direction, so our best bet would be to head north east as soon as we enter through the gate."

Shūhei nodded his assent as he similarly came to the same conclusion, his eyes glancing through the link-chain fence towards the forest within. "I agree. We'll have next to no resistance if we head in that direction, and it'll be perfect for what we've got planned so far!"

Shiho took a deep breath and nodded at her teammates, her muscles coiled and ready to spring into action. "It's settled then. Prepare yourselves..."

With an agreeing nod from the rest of the trio, an air of seriousness descended upon the group until with a small cackle of static, the speaker phone situated just above the gate sounded to life, the familiar voice of one sadistic purple-haired proctor clearly filtering through the PA system.

"All right you maggots, this is it! The Forest of Death is not kind, so don't expect to be taking a gentle stroll in the park! Not only will you have to watch out for opposing ninja, but the forest itself will be after your heads as well! Have fun maggots... BEGIN!"

The gate in front of the trio burst open and signified the official beginning of the exam, and with the opening of the gate came the immediate departure of Team Genma, their heading being strictly north east.

The immediate surroundings outside the gate were nothing new to them, and it was decidedly similar to the rest of the forests around Konoha, something they'd become accustomed to in the past month. Sun light from above was still easily able to pentrate through the canopies above, and the odd tweeting of birds was still a common occurence.

It wasn't long though before their environment began to change quite drastically, and the stillness that accompanied this new terrain was wholly unnerving. The tweeting of birds had ceased all together, and the light had dimmed down quite a bit, and it wasn't due to a change in time. The canopy above was thickened to unimaginable levels, and it allowed almost no light to filter through from overhead, nothing more than an ethereal glow lighting up the new world found below.

The tree trunks had widened beyond that of normalcy, and the terrain was decidedly swamp-like as they continued to leap from branch to branch through the trees – if the monstrous wooden coloumns lining the forest could be called trees. The underbrush mostly consisted of moss-like plants on steroids, and if they weren't mistaken, it seemed to be very much alive, prompting the group to adopt a strictly tree-hopping mode of travel.

But as they soldiered on through the forest, the fauna became increasingly dense, and the quiet that ensued proved only to throw the team further on edge. Just like their proctor had said, they weren't only being hunted by genin teams from opposing villages, but also by the forest itself, and from what they'd seen so far, who knew what kind of mutated monstrosities lived within.

The genin kept their eyes peeled for any lurking foes, be they human, animal or plant. Shūhei was gripping tightly onto a kunai in his right hand, Shiho fisting a trio of senbon between her fingers, and Naruto was holding onto his bow which he'd unsealed moments earlier, an arrow prepped for firing at a moment's notice. Their trip had been completely unhindered this far, and it was therein that lay the problem – it was all too quiet as they continued on, and the lone brunette of the team jumped a little ways ahead of the two blondes and landed in a crouch on the next branch, his fist held up to signal for a stop.

Naruto came to a stop right beside his brunette friend, his eyes scanning the environment even as he opened his mouth to speak. "What's up Shūhei? Why'd we stop? You gotta take a piss or something?" The question came out so casually that Shūhei almost snorted, but the brunette simply ignored the blonde and closed his eyes, focusing on the environment around them.

"In those last few weeks of training..." the brunette slowly began just above a whisper, his focus remaining trained to the area all around them. "... I found out that I have a bit of a knack for sensing. Granted I'm not too good at it yet, but I'm getting there. Nevermind that though," he answered, opening his eyes and glancing to their left, bringing his kunai up in front of him in a reverse grip. "We've got company approaching mildly fast, four of them I think, and they don't feel very human..."

Naruto focused his eyes in the direction the brunette was pointing, pulling his bow taut and flowing fūton chakra into the arrow in preparation to let fly at the target. Sure enough within ten seconds the sounds of breaking branches and screeching yells began to reach their ears, the sounds growing louder by the second. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Naruto's head, and he brought his bow up and took aim, his right hand resting just below his cheek.

In the next instant two blurs shot out of the dimly lit canopy, moving at decent speeds for an animal. The two blurs flew straight in Naruto's direction, and he let fly with his arrow, striking the first target square in the chest. The stopping power of the wind natured chakra-enhanced arrow powered the missile through-and-through the first target's body and straight into the second one behind it, which upon closer glance, appeared to be larger-than-normal baboons, their razor sharp incisors all too clear in the dimly lit forest.

The baboons which took the arrow to the chest fell down towards the marshy ground, their bodies impacting with a soft thud. Naruto's momentary lapse in concentration however led him to completely forget about the rest of the baboons which were accompanying the others too, and with a mighty tackle from the mammal they were both sent flying off the branch and spiralling down to the ground.

Naruto managed to manoeuver the animal underneath him midair to absorb the impact of the fall, but the primate didn't even seem the least bit phased as it landed on its back and flung the genin away from it with surprising strength, rolling onto its feet and baring its teeth dangerously. Naruto rolled back into a crouch and loaded another arrow into his bow, shooting straight for the head of the primate this time. But with surpising agility the mammal ducked right under the missile and launched off at the blonde genin with great speed, its tail flailing wildly from behind.

An impressed grin slid onto Naruto's face as the animal approached him, and after resealing his bow and holstering his trench knives in a reverse grip, his fūton chakra naturally began flowing into the blades and invisibly extending them. "You wanna dance? Then let's dance..."

The baboon's eyes seemed to harden and it leapt at Naruto with its fangs bared, intent on ripping out his jugular and spilling his blood across the forest floor. As the animal approached however Naruto fell onto his back and dug his heels into the primate's stomach, using its momentum to send it flying straight into the trunk of a massive tree with an audbile thud and a whimper of surprise. The blonde gave the animal no time to retaliate though and immediately shot after the baboon, plunging his trench knives hilt-deep into the primate's chest.

The forest floor and surrounding tree became showered with the crimson lifeblood of the mammal, and Naruto's sleeveless shirt darkened to a deeper shade of red as opposed to the dark orange from before. The body of the primate slid down the side of the tree and impacted softly with the marshy ground, its lifeless eyes greyed over. Naruto turned away from the animal and began running back up the side of the tree, his teammates now his sole focus. 'These things weren't too tough, I just hope Shūhei and Shiho-chan handled them as easily as I did...'

XxX

Shūhei watched on with a satisfied smirk as the arrow fired by his best friend hit the first baboon straight through the centre of the chest and pierced right through to the baboon behind it. It was a textbook shot if he ever saw one; a prime example of killing two birds with one stone; but his small reverie was short lived as the howling of another baboon filled his ears, and he glanced to his left as the massive primate landed on his branch and tackled him into the trunk of the tree, his head impacting with the hard wood.

Spittle flew out of the brunette's mouth as he bounced off the trunk, a low grunt of pain escaping his lips. He forced his eyes back open as the ringing from the blunt force continued to pound through his head, and despite the blurry vision, he managed to duck his head just as a swinging fist from the primate crashed into the trunk and dented the bark. It was fist after fist that came flying towards the brunette, no semblance of coordination or grace being displayed by the furry mammal.

The brunette expected nothing more however, but his vision was still sufficiently swimming, and as he brought his hands up to guard another swinging fist from the baboon, he was grabbed at the front of his shirt and was immediately thrown back and forth in a crazed grapple, spittle from the baboon's howling mouth flying into his face. The baboon's iron-fisted grip was as solid as rock, and there was no way he was gonna pry its hands off him. He would sooner be rocked to death by the screaming monkey, he thought in sick twisted amusement.

But now was not the time for jokes, and he still had both his hands free, so with three hand seals that were a lot harder to form in his current situation, he aimed his mouth in the direction of the primate's face. _"Suiton: Mizurappa __**(Water Release: Wild Water Wave)**__!"_ His cheeks bulged as the torrent of water built up within his mouth, and compressing the stream of water as much as he could, opened the flood gates so to speak and allowed the jutsu to do its job.

With an almighty roar the jet of water erupted from the brunette's mouth, and the primate had no idea what impacted with its face as it was shot into a tree trunk on the opposite side with a deafening crack, the baboon's lifeless body dropping all the way to the ground. Shūhei slid down the trunk to his rear and gingerly glanced over the edge of the branch to the forest floor, the sight of the downed baboon's body bringing a triumphant smile to his face. "Fuck you... motherfucker..."

He sat there for a few more seconds so that he could properly reorient himself, and once his vision was cleared of the black spots from earlier, he brought his legs underneath him and jumped in the direction he remembered his female teammate being pushed in, spitting out a glob of spit that hit the dead baboon square in the face. 'I've known Naruto long enough to know he can handle himself, I just hope Shiho-san is all right...'

XxX

Shiho watched on in awe just like her brunette teammate as the arrow fired by Naruto penetrated through not only the first attacking baboon but the second one as well. She'd never actually seen him use his bow and arrow before, only having heard of his skill with it through word of mouth. It seemed that he was just as proficient with it as Shūhei-kun had explained to her once before.

She watched as another baboon barrelled into her fellow blonde teammate, while the fourth baboon that Shūhei had sensed tackled him straight into the trunk of the tree. She raised her hand that was holding her trio of senbon and readied herself to let fly at the primate holding Shūhei down when an unexpected fifth baboon rammed into her blindside, knocking her off the branch she was on. She flew back first into the trunk of another tree and bounced off the side before she channelled chakra to the soles of her feet and slowed her descent, jumping to the ground and landing in a crouched roll to absorb the force of the fall. 'I thought there were only four of them!' she thought hurriedly, her eyes widening in surprise from the unexpected attack.

She wasn't left alone on the forest floor for long though as the baboon that had knocked her down came sliding down the side of the trunk, landing on the floor with a soft thud before running straight at her, its arms being thrown at her in a wild frenzy. The blows were ridiculously easy to dodge though, and with her right hand still fisting a trio of senbon, each time she dodged a swing from the primate she'd lash back with her makeshift claws, sending three parallel cuts across its furry skin with each counter-attack.

She continued to dance in between the baboon's strikes with considerable ease, but she found that her retaliatory strikes were doing next to no lasting damage, and the mammal just seemed to shrug them off and continue on swinging as fast as ever. In fact—

'The only thing I'm managing to accomplish is making it angrier! Its strikes are starting to come a lot faster and more sporadically, I don't think I can keep up—'

With a high-pitched shrill it raised both its arms and flung them both into the blonde's chest, sending her crashing into the tree trunk behind her. Glancing up she noticed the incoming form of the primate once again, and slid to the floor to avoid the full-body tackle of the animal. Her dodge proved beneficial as the baboon ran headlong straight into the hard wood of the trunk, an audible thud echoing in her ears.

The primate pushed away from the tree and swung hard at the trunk with its fists, releasing another howl of rage as it turned to the downed girl on its left and dove in head first, razor sharp incisors bared and ready to dig into some flesh. The speedy lunge momentarily caught the blonde off guard, and the baboon's jaws pierced the top of her right shoulder, crimson liquid staining the top of her battle dress. With an outcry of pain the bespectacled blond swung her left fist into the primate's face and knocked it back a little, giving her a second reprieve.

The second was all she got though before it lunged again, this time its aim being just a little further east than where it had hit last. The female genin managed to wedge her elbow in between herself and the heavy mammal's upper torso, and its jaws were halted milimetres away from the soft flesh of her neck. It didn't stop the animal from continuing to thrash wildly and attempt to reach its target though, spittle flying out of its howling mouth and onto her face.

The constant thrashing of the heavy animal was sapping her strength fast, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep the primate at bay. She could feel its hot breath and spit hitting her neck as it neared ever closer to her jugular, milimetre by agonisingly-close milimetre. With another mighty heave she attempted to throw the mammal off her body, but no dice. She barely managed to budge the primate, and it resumed its thrashing once again thereafter.

Her left arm was doing the majority of the work keeping the animal from reaching her with its razor sharp teeth, and it was taking all her strength to keep her right arm in the mix as well. It was searing in pain after her skin was ripped open by the baboon's chompers, and there was no way she'd be able to reach for the kunai in her side pouch fast enough before the primate's jaws would be upon her.

But this was all or nothing; she couldn't keep this up much longer, so she had to try. With one last dredging up of all her strength, she closed her eyes and prepared herself to give one mighty heave in order to throw the mammal away from her for no more than a second so she could retrieve a kunai. That was all she'd need to retrieve the weapon and end its life.

But before she could enact her plan, the weight of the baboon was almost completely lifted off of her, and cracking her eyes open she found that there was an arrow going through the side of its head, pinning it to the tree trunk they had been wrestling beside. She quickly squirmed out from underneath the dead primate's body and took a moment to breath, not realising how out of breath she had been before.

Her fellow blonde teammate landed beside her in the next second, his hand resting on her back as she leaned on her knees, her strength thoroughly spent. "T-Thanks, *pant*, Uzumaki-kun... I really, *pant*, needed that..."

The whiskered blonde nodded his head with a small smile, looking up into the trees above to see his brunette teammate land on a branch looking no less worse-for-ware than before. His smile widened a little further at the sight, and he looked back down at the bespectacled blonde. "That's what teammates are for right? We look out for each other."

She nodded her head before slowly standing back up straight, grabbing at her bleeding shoulder and hissing in pain. "I tried my best, but the blasted thing still managed to get me you see... It's not too serious though, so if we patch it up now it should be fine until we reach the centre compound."

Naruto nodded his head and made sure she was all right before running up the side of the tree and landing beside the brunette, their female teammate joining them no more than two seconds later. "I sorta lost track of which direction we were going in when those baboons attacked us, but I remember we started to the left of the bisecting river," he began slowly, keeping his eyes open in case any more uninvited guests decided to make an appearance. "I don't suppose you remember which direction we have to go to get to the river? We need to clean her wound, and it would be a good place to set up camp. We can travel along the river from there to the centre. We're bound to find an enemy team along the way – can't survive too long without water after all."

The brunette considered the blonde's words, thinking long and hard about which direction the river was in. The canopy was much too thick to see the position of the sun and which direction it was moving in, but glancing around his surroundings, he recognised fairly quickly which direction they'd been going in from the start, and if they continued to their left they'd eventually hit the river that bisected the forest.

It was the blonde's plan however that gave him pause, and with an enthusiastic smile he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "You may be on to something there, and it's better than anything I can come up with at the moment." Shrugging his shoulders, Shūhei did a quick check of his equipment before thumbing in the direction behind him. "And the river's in that direction, so whenever you guys are ready..."

Looking between both blondes, he received a quick nod from each before he turned in the direction he'd pointed at earlier and began leaping from tree branch to tree branch, setting a reasonably quick pace. The sooner they got to the river the sooner they could set up camp and finalise a strategy for taking out the first team they came across. He found himself enjoying the thought of moving along the river to find a team to attack. 'Water is my element after all,' he thought with a wide smirk.

XxX

It was around late afternoon when the trio of genin from Team Genma finally reached the flowing river that bisected the forest, and as luck would have it, they found the perfect place to camp up for the night. A massive tree besides the river, sporting branches and leaves en masse, had quite a large cavity located midway up the tree trunk. It wasn't huge, but it was more than big enough to allow each genin to lie flat on the ground beside the other.

After finding the hollow and subsequently clearing it of any lingering insects or rodents, the trio got to work on setting up their makeshift camp. The brunette of the team accompanied the lone female of the team to the river to help her clean out her wound and bandage it up, while the whiskered-blonde of the team produced several shadow clones to take up watch positions at key points around their position, not too far away from their hole-up, but not too close either.

As his clones headed to their respective positions to keep a lookout for any enemy activity, the blonde himself began setting up a secondary line of defense in the form of traps, making sure to make their position defensible in the event of a surprise attack. He refrained from using explosive notes due to the loud bang that they produced, opting instead to use a combination of flash bombs, kunai and shuriken to disorient and hopefully kill any attackers. They didn't need to be alerting further opposition to their location if they came under attack, so he figured quieter measures would be more sensible.

It wasn't long before the fall of night descended upon the forest, and the trio of genin retreated into their makeshift camp, Shiho having padded the wooden floor of the cavity with the soft moss found in abundance within the forest.

The genin unsealed their futons, and even though they had prepared for a night attack and set up traps and sentinels all around their position, they weren't taking any chances and made sure to have somebody up and watching at all times, and set up times for a rotating watch. As things stood, they could be in for a crazy night to say the least, so as the female shinobi of the team readied herself for first watch by the entrance to the cavity, the two males of the team decided to get some shut-eye while the situation permitted it. They never knew when they might get another chance to sleep after all.

* * *

_Somewhere in Hi no Kuni, undisclosed location..._

* * *

In the dank dark recesses of the subterranean country lay the fortress of a man known far and wide all over the Elemental Nations. He was known for his genius and triumphant exploits as a shinobi, but moreso for his status as a missing ninja – an S-class one for that matter, hailing from the strongest of all the major hidden villages, Konohagakure no Sato.

Two yellow-slitted eyes penetrated the blinding darkness encompassing a large room hidden beneath the surface of the earth, these two eyes belonging to none other than the aforementioned shinobi – Orochimaru of the Sannin. His eyes pierced the darkness with calculating desire, and his lips were pulled up into a maniacal smirk like no other as his mind's eye tracked the approach of his most loyal and trusted subordinate.

Several seconds later two knocks sounded out at the opposite end of the room, the resulting clang echoing loudly throughout the entire hall. The massive double doors slowly creaked open as a bespectacled silver-haired man entered the room, his presence inciting the candles scattered all around the room to burn to life. His soft footsteps thudded rhythmically against the stone flooring before slowing to a stop before his master's throne, his left knee softly impacting the ground in a bow.

The light that now permeated the massive hall revealed the form of the yellow-eyed sannin in all his slithering gloriness, his slender form accentuating his snake-like appearance. He had pale skin and long black hair, and the purple markings around his eyes complemented his golden yellow eyes. He sat in his throne almost lazily, leaning to his left with his head resting on his fist. "Ah, Kabuto-kun... I trust that you are almost ready to depart for Konoha?" he enquired leisurely, his right hand's fingers drumming slowly on the throne's armrest.

The young bespectacled man's eyes trained up towards his master's patiently waiting face, and with a thin smile, he nodded his head. "Of course Orochimaru-sama," he answered loyally, pushing up his glasses with his index finger. "My clone has served its purpose for the moment, and I'll be switching back within the day."

The snake sannin's eyes twinkled jubilantly, and his smirk widened a touch at hearing his subordinate's answer. "Excellent," he hissed softly, straightening up in his chair. "I'll arrive shortly after to take the place of my own clone, but as you well know, I have further unfinished business to attend to before I depart. Make sure to keep young Sasuke-kun out of danger... I can't have my precious future vessel damaged before it's time to make the transition... Isn't that right Kabuto-kun?"

Kabuto nodded his head fervently at the unspoken command from his master, his glasses flashing brightly in the rolling flames of a nearby candle. "Of course Orochimaru-sama. Just leave it to me."

"Excellent," the sannin repeated, tilting his head gleefully to the side. "You may leave..." The silver-haired man nodded once again, and with another gentle croak of the double doors, silence once again reigned supreme within the hall, the flickering of flames softly pittering in the background. "Kimimaro-kun..."

A fairly tall teen landed in front of his master with one knee grounded, his shoulder-length white hair flopping to their positions beside his face. He had vivid green eyes with two red dots centred on his lower forehead, and he was wearing the traditional ensemble worn by members of Orochimaru's personal bodyguard, the Shinobi Gonin Shū. "What do you require of me Orochimaru-sama?" the pale teen enquired of his master, his voice even and his eyes fixed on those of his master.

"I need you to visit one of my hidden facilities within Kaminaro no Kuni," the pale snake-like sannin began, his eyes twinkling with a sick twisted joy as he thought of the fruition of his latest and greatest endeavour. "I have a special task that needs to be completed, and the tools necessary just so happen to be stationed at that hideout."

"Speak it master, and it shall be done."

The snake's lips curled wickedly as he brought his linked hands up, his body leaning forward and the dim candle light shadowing his eyes ominously. "Kukuku... I need you to find me the dead body of a certain someone..."

* * *

**_AN: Well, that's a wrap guys, this is the beginning of the second exam, and I think the next chapter will be quite a long one, but it will be the entire rest of the second exam, afterwhich comes possibly an inbetween chapter and then the third stage, so we're almost over with the exams!_**

**_This exam is pretty much carbon copy of canon, but I'll try and originalise it as much as possible! Team Genma's first fight within the forest though, let me know. It wasn't a hectic fight, I didn't try and make it one, but I tried to get a little bit of action in. Rest assured there will be a fight(s) in the next chapter, so brace yourselves!_**

**_Also, we introduce the pale-white child molestor Orochimaru of the Sannin. To be honest, He's not my favourite character, but he's a good villain, so I'll do him justice... I hope. I wanna see if you guys can guess what Kimimaro has gone to Kaminari no Kuni for, so drop me a line and let me see what your thoughts are =) Not just on this though, let me know what you think of the chapter and relay any mistakes to me please if there are any!_**

**_Just a quick bunch of completely irrelevant talk from me, I watched another anime, High School of the Dead, and I thought it was a pretty kickass anime, even though it only had 12 episodes... and I don't think it's going to continue, but the concept is killer, and I recommend those of you who are avid anime watchers to check it out... you won't be disappointed! If you are, then bad judgement on my part :D_**


	13. Non-confrontational Confrontation

**_AN: Hey guys, I'm back, and for those who may or may not have noticed, I changed my pen name, so it's still me! :) Sorry for such a long wait, had a rough few weeks, but I managed to type up another chapter. This is a pretty long one, so I apologise to those who hate reading long chapters, but I had a lot to write, and this was the only place I could find to end it =) _**

**_Although I honestly don't feel like this is one of my better chapters, but there's not much more I can do about that... I've tried rewriting bits here and there, and going over everything but I couldn't find a way to make it better in my opinion :P The past few weeks have really put a damper on my inspiration, but I tried to put something up for you guys :)_**

**_On a brighter note, we're almost at 100 reviews guys! So if we could push over that marker after this chapter, I'll push to get another up and done before I start Uni again on the 1st of February, which I would love to do, but as you know, reviews do make things go faster :D Any ways, onto the reviews quick and then you guys can read the chapter ;)_**

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buterflypuss - As always, thanks for the review bud, glad you liked the chap, and hope this one is all right :P Not one of my better chapters in my opinion, but I'll leave it to you guys to decide.

Yana5 - Haha, Snake-pedo indeed :D Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and always a pleasure ;) Hope this one is just as good, but I have my doubts :P went through a slight rough patch, so it might not be as good.

CharitysSongbird - Thanks for the review bud, and I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter :) Yep, the pain of going through the exams is real lol, but I'm muscling through it as best I can :D I'm really glad you like my OC, and I enjoyed most of my holiday, save for some RL issues that messed it up a bit :P I hope I do a good job of this chapter, I had a rough past few weeks so this chap may not be up to standards, but I tried my best :) Enjoy ;)

bcoleton1 - Haha, you have no idea what this review meant to me buddy =) I couldn't stop smiling, so I'll dedicate this chapter to you =) Although like I've said, I don't feel as good about it, but that's up to you guys. Thanks again so much for your review bud, I really appreciated it =)

Guest - Thanks you for this review guest. I made a mock up in the previous chapter with regards to the piercing power, and I had actually completely forgotten about Lightning being the piercing power, not wind. I can't really patch that up because it's pretty integrated into the story, but know that I won't make a mistake like that again :) Thanks again for the review, still wish I had a name to call you by, but enjoy the chap ;)

Musubi Kazesaru - Thanks bud, I appreciate your honest opinion of my fic :) I know that my writing is above average, but I've always had a slight problem with the actual plot of a story, so that's why this story might not seem like it's out-of-this-world kind of thing :D But I apprecaite the review nonetheless, and good call bud ;) Right on the money there with your guess. Enjoy the chap!

waterdemon9 - Haha, glad to hear that you tried to read every chapter in one go! =) It made me smile hearing that someone liked my story enough to do that :D But please do get some sleep lol, don't want to lose one of the few who really love this story :D Haha, HSTD does rock, and I really love zombies as well lol, same with my sister :D No need to feel like you're zombie freaks, because so am I :D Glad you can't wait for the next chapter, so here it is =) Hope it's as good as you hoped, I personally don't feel it is, but I might be a pretty harsh judge (shrugs). Enjoy! :)

Kronus96 - Good guess bud, third raikage was right on the money, but don't tell anyone else... shhh :) That's one of my most well kept secrets at the moment, so keep it on the DL ;) Sorry about the false accusation about not enjoying the story, I think it was pretty late the last time I updated, so I might have mistaken you for someone else :D I didn't mean, honestlyy, so please enjoy this chapter as a token of my appreciation :D Glad you liked the animals, I felt it was a cool twist, and I'll see about adding in one more encounter into the next chapter maybe ;)

Kairan1979 - Glad you enjoyed the chapter, and always a pleasure for the update :) Yeah, Anko may be troublesome, but there sure are a lot more people who are more troublesome lol xD Enjoy the chap... hopefully :D

Haruchai - Hey bud, thanks for the review! :) But I was speaking about High School of the Dead, with the zombies, not High School DxD :) But I recommened High School of the Dead, it's really good :) I'm gonna try and get to the canon timeline soon, but do you mean Shippuden or just the canon timeline in general? Thanks again for the review, hope you enjoy this chapter :)

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_**AN: Okay, that's it for the reviews, just the boring old disclaimer and then you guys are free to move onto the actual story and read it, hopefully enjoy it, and then definitely review it afterwards, am I right? :) I hope so :D Enjoy the chap ;)**_

_**Warning: Contains scenes of a slightly gory nature towards the end.**_

**Disclaimer: All characters of Naruto and things Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

_Chapter 13: Non-confrontational Confrontation_

* * *

"Normal talking"

'Normal thinking'

**_"Bijū/Summon talking"_**

**_'Bijū/Summon thinking'_**

* * *

_Day two of the Chūnin Exams, early nightfall..._

* * *

The shining star known far and wide as the sun had just vanished beyond the horizon, and darkness encompassed the entirety of the Elemental Nations. But more importantly, darkness encompassed the Forest of Death, and the time was right for the trio of genin operating as Team Genma to get into gear and begin searching out an enemy team for an Earth scroll.

As things stood, they'd run into unexpected primatial visitors on their first day after entering through the gates, and they'd taken the night and day to rest and prepare themselves to begin advancing on the enemy teams. And that was where they found themselves at the current point in time. They'd planned accordingly and made the decision to head up along the edge of the river where they were most likely to find an opposing team. The fact that it was night made it all the more likely that the team they sought out would be asleep or preparing for such. That would be the key facet to their night operation.

The trio of genin leapt from tree branch to tree branch with nary a sound, their movements the definition of stealth. They moved at a pace fast enough to make substantial progress distance-wise, but slow enough to keep their presence undetected. They were all draped with black hooded cloaks that they'd procured before the exam, their sensei having not so subtly hinted that it would be better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it. **_'Just like those sheaths you humans palce on over your genitals before engaging in coitus,'_** chimed Kurama, his teeth bared in a toothy grin.

The fox's comment succeeded in almost tripping the whiskered-blonde up, and had he not been concentrating completely on making his soundless leaps from branch to branch, he might've found the ground coming up to meet him on his way down. 'Y-Yes, that's the same principle you damned fur ball! And it's called a condom! And coitus? What the hell is that?!'

The fox snickered softly to itself, its soft wheezes echoing around Naruto's mind. **_'Oh I know what it's called, but you humans have reduced your dialect to the point that it's almost primitive... I will call it whatever I feel like calling it. As for coitus, ask your fellow teammates if you are so curious. I shall retract to the sidelines for the moment...'_**

Naruto shook his head in a deadpan as the fox receded into his mind for the time-being, actually able to hear himself think for a change. 'Whatever happened to just speaking normally?! I swear...' Glancing to his left and right though, he coughed into his hands to get his teammates attention before posing the question that was now sufficiently gnawing at his curiosity. "So uh, what's coitus?"

The brunette and female blonde on his left and right flanks respectively almost nose dived into the next tree branch they were landing on from the sudden question, but managed to correct themselves mid-landing, the brunette glaring at his whiskered-blonde friend incredulously, while the female of the team adjusted her glasses before they fell off, her cheeks now sporting a mild blush. "What the fuck Naruto?! This is most definitely not the time for that!"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked from the brunette to Shiho, his eyes almost begging now. "But I wanna know," he whined softly, crossing his arms and pouting like a child.

Shiho once again pushed up her glasses before softly coughing into her hands, her blush coming back full force. "Well, ah, you see Uzumaki-kun, in layman's terms, coitus means... well you see, it defers too—"

"It means sex you whiskered moron!" Shūhei snapped angrily at his friend, slapping him upside the head for causing such a fuss, especially at a time like this.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, apologising to both his teammates. 'Although I probably could've figured that one out logically...' His eyes snapped forward though as the brunette's fist came up to order their team to a halt, Shūhei's eyes closed in concentration. "Hey, what's up?"

The blonde's voice was a whisper, but the brunette heard him clear as day as he searched out for the chakra he'd sensed a second ago. His eyes snapped open and he glanced ahead and to the left, a trio of chakra signatures a little further in that direction. "I think I just found our targets," he relayed softly, a small smirk tugging at his lips.

Naruto quietly fist pumped the air with a wide smile, earning a mutter of 'immature child' from his brunette friend. He ignored it completely however and unsealed his bow, glancing at the brunette and bespectacled blonde. "All right, so what's the plan?"

They gathered together in their signature huddle, the brunette already relaying the parts of their plan of attack. It was a simple immobilise and subdue operation, and if unable to subdue then kill. But that was an absolute last resort, because none of them had actually killed before. And to be completely honest, they were trying to keep it that way for as long as they could. Many would argue otherwise and suggest the sooner the better... But not in the middle of a hostile environment without the supervision of their sensei. That was just a recipe for disaster.

The trio of genin nodded their heads at the plan, and with their targets pinpointed to a few hundred metres ahead of them, they slowed down tremendously and proceeded with the utmost caution, refraining from doing any noisy tree jumping and opting to transfer from tree to tree by way of the over-and-under passing branches, crisscrossing this way and that.

They had moved a little bit higher up the tree, now standing a little over 20 metres in the air. As Naruto manoeuvred around the trunk of another tree, their targets came into view: a trio of genin, sitting around a small smokeless fire. Naruto's eyes had always been sharper than most; same could be said for the rest of his senses, and Kurama had theorised it was due to his presence within the blonde, but that was wholly unconfirmed; either way, Naruto's sharp eyes zeroed in on the unsuspecting group of genin, and the symbols represented atop their foreheads were all too clear. Amegakure no Sato.

His eyes darted this way and that, and eventually he spotted the hidden forms of his two teammates, both of whom were hidden up in the trees just like him. They effectively had the genin below surrounded, but now it was time for Naruto to enact the rest of their plan. Bringing his hands into the cross seal, he created a single shadow clone and had it join his other two teammates. The clone would take his spot in apprehending their targets while he himself prepared for the immobilisation of the genin below.

He pulled his bow off his back and unsealed an arrow, the shaft of which was covered in a multitude of flash bombs. Naruto crouched low on the branch and pulled the arrow taut in his bow, his right hand brushing against his cheek. Breathing in and breathing out, he let fly with the arrow, the missile zipping through the air and landing square in the middle of the huddled up genin. Bringing his right hand up in the Ram seal not a second later, he detonated the flash bombs below, making sure to avert his gaze for the moment to allow the blinding flashes to pass. It did nothing for the accompanying deafness though, his ears ringing loudly.

The blindness and deafness induced by the flash bombs would only last for about five seconds, so not wasting any more time, the remaining two members of Team Genma along with Naruto's clone dropped from the tree branches above to the ground and made to subdue their targets. Their targets weren't standing still anymore however, the disorientation from the flash bombs sending them stumbling around the immediate area. Shūhei sent a roundhouse kick right at his target's head at the same time Shiho launched a salvo of senbon into her target's neck, and the Naruto clone grabbed his target around the throat, holding his trench knife at the captive's neck.

Instead of all their attacks hitting home and effectively immobilising each of their targets, their attacks seemed to pass through their targets' liquid-like bodies, the Ame genin seemingly made out of a black sludge-like substance. The genin Shūhei struck had its head cleaved clean off, but the genin's head simply dissolved in a shower of black rain before another body of the genin materialised out of the wound inflicted, the wound itself regenerating until it was like the genin had never been struck in the first place.

The same process occurred with each of the other genin who had inflicted serious damage on their opponents, the only thing the genin of Team Genma having succeeded in doing being multiplying the number of targets around them, each attack having split the Ame genin into more clones of themselves.

"What's going on?" Shūhei muttered irritably with a noticeable frown on his face, palming a kunai and holding it up in front of himself defensively as he stood beside Shiho and the Naruto clone who had both backed away upon discovering their latest problem. "The fact that slicing them open only led to further enemies means we must be dealing with clones here..."

Shiho nodded her head slowly, finding the assessment on par, as was usually the case with her brunette teammate she'd come to realise. "But if these are all clones, then where are the originals?" She fisted another trio of senbon as she said this, and her eyes swept over their now quintet group of enemies.

Shūhei and Shiho's enemies had both doubled up after their respective attacks, but what drew wide eyes from each of the genin below was the emergence of more clones from seemingly everywhere, the rebreather-clad genin surfacing from the ground, trees and rocks all around the small clearing they found themselves at a stand-off in.

A bead of sweat trickled down the side of Shiho's forehead as she eyed the ever increasing number of enemies filling up the clearing all around them, and the beating of her heart filled her ears as the hand holding onto her senbon shook worriedly. 'T-There's... there's too many of them! There's just no way we can take on this many enemies, no matter how good we may be!'

She chanced a glance to her right to see how here brunette teammate was fairing, to see whether he'd divulged the seriousness and danger of the current situation, and her eyes widened minutely. His face was as calm as ever, his eyes as steely as they were not two minutes ago when they'd engaged their operation. He looked perfectly composed, not a care in the world for the ever growing number of enemies traversing on their position.

And then she saw it. It was quick, almost too quick to notice, but he glanced at her, then up into the trees and then back into the swarm of clones surrounding them. It took her a couple of seconds to decipher the glance, but her eyes widened again once she had. 'Of course! Uzumaki-kun is still up above in the tree tops! He's our eyes in the sky so to speak, and he should be able to locate the casters of the jutsu from that vantage point!'

Turning her eyes forward again, she clenched her fist a little tighter, her stance regaining a measure of confidence. 'We'll just have to put our faith in Uzumaki-kun... it's up to him to expose the true casters then...'

XxX

Naruto watched triumphantly from high up above in the trees as his teammates and clone successfully struck each opposing genin from Amegakure. Their plan had worked like a charm, and it wouldn't be long now before they walked out of here with another scroll in hand, and hopefully an Earth scroll at that. Everything was going swimmingly, until their targets below began splitting into copies of themselves. 'Wait a sec—that's not supposed to happen!' It wasn't long before the clones of their enemies were popping up from all over the show, and Naruto gripped the handles of his trench knives tightly as he prepared to dive down and help out the rest of his team—

**_'Wait gaki! Don't be so hasty!'_** came the booming voice of his furry tenant from within. Naruto halted in his tracks and frowned inwardly, sending nervous glances towards his teammates who were being further surrounded the more time they wasted up here! **_'Don't you think I know that gaki! But haste makes waste, so slow down and allow me to explain... your team will be fine for the moment.'_**

Naruto grit his teeth but grudgingly acquiesced and turned away from his team to focus on Kurama's voice, his frown more pronounced than ever. 'Just make it quick Kurama! Every second we waste here could mean life or death for Shūhei and Shiho-chan!'

The fox harrumphed in frustration and lifted his head from atop its perched position, ignoring the blonde completely. **_'As I was saying, you clearly have not sensed it yet, but those clones below are nothing more than a genjutsu which you have been ensnared within... so first and foremost, you need to break yourself out of the illusion. I would break it for you, but we have yet to experiment with using my chakra, so break the illusion.'_**

Naruto blinked owlishly for a few seconds before a loud growl from Kurama kickstarted his movements once again. He stole another wary glance at his team before bringing his hand up into the Ram seal to help him focus his chakra. He and Kurama had spoken briefly about their trust in one another, and after realising that Naruto had been slightly squandering his partner's, he'd made a concerted effort to start listening to him when he spoke. It wasn't often when the giant fox did offer up advice in a pinch like this, but Naruto had learned that Kurama was oft correct most every time.

So with a practised ease that his best friend Shūhei had beaten into him after countless hours of genjutsu training, he momentarily stopped the flow of his chakra before jump starting it once again. He stole another momentary glance to the clearing below and delightedly found the clones wavering in an unstable fashion before vanishing from before his eyes.

He widened his eyes in surprise as the illusion was broken, but his frown returned once more when he noted that his team and his clone still seemed to be stuck firm within the ruse. He gripped his trench knife and readied to launch himself below to break his teammates out of the genjutsu as well, but the echoing voice of Kurama stopped him once again. 'What is it this time?! They're still stuck in that illusion and they need to be broken free!'

**_'Stop questioning my reasons and just trust my judgment you ingrate!'_** the almightiest of the bijū roared loudly, moving onto all fours as its patience thinned. Naruto visibly recoiled from the outcry, but he stayed his tongue and frowned exasperatedly. It wasn't that he didn't trust Kurama, but his teammates were down there in the middle of the meat grinder so to speak, so he couldn't help the sense of urgency brought about by the situation.

Huffing irritably and descending onto its hind legs, the fox began once more. **_'Now, like I was saying, this a genjutsu, and if your best friend of a teammate is as smart as I know he is, then he's already figured that out too.'_**

The fox spoke of experience, having marvelled at the brunette's intellect more than a few times during his partnership with the whiskered blonde. It had a nagging sort of familiarity that he just couldn't quite place, and it was that familiarity that annoyed him to no end. But that was a matter for another time. They were on the clock as the blonde had so morosely pointed out, so he turned his eyes back to the inner-blonde.

**_'Knowing that he's caught in a genjutsu, he'll also know that the casters of said genjutsu are attempting—and have so far succeeded—in keeping themselves hidden.'_** The fox slowed for a moment to make sure that the whiskered blonde was still following, and with a proud-ish smile realised that he was. Pride wasn't to be mistaken for relief however, and the fox quickly reassured itself with a curt nod before clearing its throat and continuing that he was feeling relief, not pride. Never pride. **_'... you starting to get the picture here gaki? You've been granted a golden opportunity to find the enemy while they are under the distinct impression that you and your entire team is captured, and that brunette friend of yours is acutely aware of this as well. For the sake of maintaining his and the rest of your team's oblivious expressions however, he is remaining ensnared...'_**

Naruto's eyes slowly took on an understanding glint, and he was momentarily shocked that Shūhei, one of the smartest guys he knew, as well as his one and true best friend, had vested so much faith in him. He believed that Naruto would be able to deduce all which Kurama had just explained, and save their hides from impending doom which was sure to have befallen them had the blonde jinchūriki not uncovered the brunette's plan. A deep sense of gratitude and honour filled the blonde at the shocking revelation, but a just as deep, if not deeper feeling of guilt haunted him as he realised that if not for Kurama, he doubted he would've had the capacity to perceive Shūhei's intentions. He hung his head in shameful regret, but the uncharacteristically soft voice of the aforementioned bijū gave him pause.

**_'Do not think so lowly of your intellectual capabilities gaki... you do not give yourself enough credit, and your friend would not have vested so much in you if he did not feel that you were capable of performing... he knows you better than I could ever hope to...'_** Silence reigned for a moment before a gruff cough escaped the fox's maw and he smashed his tails atop the floor of the seal, once again barking out at his jinchūriki. **_'Now don't make him regret placing all that faith in you!'_**

The shame that had previously washed over the blonde vanished in that instant, and with those determined azure-blue orbs, the blonde set about to prove that his friend was right to put so much faith in him. 'Thanks Kurama... just hang in there Shūhei, Shiho-chan... help is on the way!'

XxX

In the ground-level bushes several metres away from the ensnared trio of genin known as Team Genma, another trio of genin sat and waited with mocking grins as they watched the helpless green-as-grass genin struggle futilely against their genjutsu trap. They were all garbed in a similar tan coloured jumpsuit, each genin sporting a rebreather that was a common occurrence among shinobi from Amegakure.

"Ha! How lucky are we that these brats decided to attack us, huh?!" one of the Ame genin barked out at his two teammates, a dangerous gleam in his eye. Glancing at his black-haired short-trimmed teammate, he clapped him softly on the shoulder and pointed back towards the clearing where the 'brats' were still fighting their imaginary opponents. "Quick thinking placing that genjutsu on all three Mubi; although I gotta say, how much longer do we need to wait this out? Surely we can make our move already?"

The now named Mubi glanced at their de facto leader through his lone eye hole cut out of the sash around his face and slowly shook his head in the negative. "For this to work completely in our favour, we must wait until they are fatigued and at their physical limits; as easy as they may seem, even the worst of shinobi can get in a lucky shot now and again Oboro."

"But they're completely helpless now," the third and final teammate whined, gripping a kunai tightly in his left hand. "Even I can see that," he deadpanned sarcastically, gesturing to his sash-covered face, his sight completely blocked off. Whether he was blind or not was debateable, because his teammates sure as hell had no idea either.

The leader of their group glanced back at the clearing, his eyes conveying his displeasure at waiting, but he trusted his comrade. If he said they needed to wait, then they'd wait. "As lucky as I'm feeling right now, I'd hate to have something unexpected ruin our chances. Let's just wait this out, do it properly the first time and head to the tower." A small chuckle escaped his mouth, the sound coming out raspy and warped through the rebreather. "Besides, I'm sure there'll be plenty more teams along the way to the tower that we can play with Kagari."

"Sounds like a plan to me Oboro—"

"So, you're the one who's casting the jutsu," came a playfully serious voice from the trees above before a figure appeared in a flicker of wind behind the short-trimmed Mubi, a trench knife held dangerously close to the Ame genin's neck.

The rest of the Ame genin were immediately on high alert, kunai drawn and held defensively in front of their bodies. Oboro's eyes widened in surprise though when he got a good eyeful of his blonde attacker, and his eyes flicked to the right. Much to his surprise, the blonde in question was struggling much the same as the rest of his teammates, fighting off the phantom clones in the genjutsu with the rest of his team. But he was here too?! "You're a clone?" His voice was laced with confusion, and he failed miserably in attempting to hide his uncertainty.

Naruto just grinned all the wider from his position behind the still struggling Mubi, tightening his grip around the boy's neck, flowing the minutest amount of wind chakra into his knife and gingerly grazing his target's throat. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," the blonde warned softly, his eyes narrowing and slowly moving from Oboro to the other genin who was named Kagari.

Said genin slowly lowered his hands that had been extending to perform hand signs, and with a click of his tongue he growled at the blonde. "So what's your plan here Blondie? You really think you can take on all three of us by yourself?!"

Naruto let out a soft chuckle as he slowly shook his head. "As fun a challenge as that would be, I'm not about to gamble with my teammates' lives." His smile morphed into a small frown as he flowed a little more wind chakra into his knife, a thin line of blood flowing out of Mubi's neck as the invisible blade of wind extended ever further. "Now, either you release the genjutsu because you cut off your chakra to the technique, or you release the genjutsu because your head is no longer attached to the rest of your body... the choice is yours..."

Mubi gulped audibly as he felt the warm sensation of blood slowly trickling down his neck, beads of cold sweat dripping down the side of his face. "N-Now just wait a second, don't be hasty and do something you might r-regret—"

"Y'know," Naruto cut in, his eyes lazily sweeping over the Ame genin ahead of him as his wind chakra extended ever further. "My teammate often tells me how haste makes waste... I'm beginning to see what kind of waste she was talking about..." His frown deepened, and his growing annoyance was evident in the way he pushed his blade further into the genin's throat, his blood now freely dripping onto the grass below.

Naruto had tried the non-violent approach, because frankly he wasn't too comfortable with acting so gruesome, but his teammates' lives were on the line, so how could he be anything else if it was gonna give him the results he wanted and saved their lives in the process? 'Just do what you gotta do,' he mentally berated himself, fixing his narrowed eyes on the genin in his grasp. "You said not to do something I might regret? That decision is in your hands now..."

The team leader of the Ame genin stared long and hard at the blonde, his eyes searching for any sort of waver in his resolve, but the seriousness drifting off the blonde told no lies. He would kill Mubi if it meant protecting his own teammates, and as much as Oboro wanted to win this battle, he valued his teammates more. With a small nod in Mubi's direction, the genin in question cut off his chakra to the _Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu __**(Mist Servant Technique)**_.

It took all of three seconds before the three genin who had been ensnared in the genjutsu were in the bushes right along with the Ame genin and Naruto. It took all of two more seconds for them to get a grasp on the situation, and it was quickly made clear that the genin of Team Genma had the higher ground.

"We did what you asked, now let go of our teammate," demanded Kagari, his frown evident even through all of the clothing hiding his face. His grip on his kunai was turning his knuckles white, and he took a step forward to emphasise his growing frustration.

"You guys are outnumbered and in no position to make any sort of demands," Shūhei belted out with the authority of a leader, pointing a kunai at both of the Ame genin who were still relatively safe, albeit slightly pissed at the current predicament they found themselves in. "So just give us your scroll and we'll let you walk away from this alive."

The statement only seemed to further infuriate the Ame genin, specifically the completely blinded one named Kagari, but before the two genin could take more than a step forward and physically demonstrate their anger, three well placed senbon found their way into the necks of both Ame shinobi, and their bodies impacted with the dirt ground a couple seconds later.

A small thud drew Shūhei and Shiho's attention back over to the original Naruto, and they found that he'd knocked his target out with a swift hit to the side of the head, that sheepish grin pulling at his lips as he glanced up at his fellow teammates. "Glad to see you guys made it out okay."

Shūhei smiled proudly in his best friend's direction, shaking his head wryly as he bent down and searched the leader's backpack. "I'm just glad you managed to figure out my plan. I had my doubts, but in the end I knew you could do it." His smile turned completely upside down though when he noticed that the team they'd just defeated had a scroll all too familiar to their own, and he tossed it Naruto's way after double checking it. "Here, you keep it. You were one who managed to save us and defeat these guys, so it's only fitting you be the one to keep their scroll. Albeit they've got a Heaven scroll too, but there's not much we can do about that."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment at the praise, but didn't dispute. Shūhei should actually be thanking Kurama for saving his ass, because Naruto was just about ready to ensnare himself in the genjutsu as well had it not been for the fox's timely intervention. But as it stood, they had no idea about his burden – at least that's what some would call it – he preferred the term 'partner'. Any ways, nobody knew about his partner, so for now, he would ungraciously accept the praise that should be handed over to Kurama.

Glancing over in the direction he assumed was east judging by the growing presence of light, Shūhei grabbed both of his teammates' attention and inclined his head back in the direction of their impromptu base. "The sun's starting to rise, so just like last night: we head back, take it easy for the day, get some sleep and rest up before going out again when night falls. Any objections?"

Shiho shook her head in the negative, but Naruto scratched the back of his head again in the same way that he always did, and with a somewhat lopsided smile he shrugged his shoulders. "I was thinking that... I dunno, maybe we should split up tonight to cover more ground and try find a few more teams to hit, just in case we come up short on a scroll again?"

Shūhei looked thoughtful for a second before nodding in acquiescence. "Sounds good to me. We'll just need to be extra careful, and Naruto will send a clone with each person so that we can relay information between each other." He turned his eyes to the unconscious bodies on the ground and waved at his teammates. "Now help me tie these guys up and cover your tracks when you leave... we don't want these guys coming after us in a fit of vengeance."

Naruto chuckled good-naturedly, but Shūhei just gave him a look that said he was being dead serious, and nothing more was said as the trio of genin tied up their respective Ame targets and took to the trees, making sure to cover up any trace of their presence.

* * *

_The next night, in the bushes of a clearing further to the north..._

* * *

"W-Whoa, these guys are pretty rough!" Chōji hissed loudly, his voice barely above a whisper as they watched the moonlit clearing through the bushes off to the side. The clearing, despite being well into the hours of the night, was quite well lit, and they could see everything that was going on with relative ease. And at the moment, Rock Lee had just been taken down by a member of the Otogakure genin, the one whose head was completely wrapped in bandages with the large poncho and straw raincoat protruding from the back of his scarf. The girl from Oto had long black hair and the same snake-patterned scarf as the other two, and the last guy from Oto had spiky black hair, an happuri attached to his hitai-ate, and the kanji for 'death' printed several times down the front of his shirt.

The Handsome Devil of Konoha was lying face down in the dirt, and the blood trailing from his ear glistened ominously in the moonlight. Shikamaru didn't respond immediately, his throat thoroughly choked up at the moment. These Oto punks looked like they were ready to go in for the kill on that Rock Lee guy, and the calm with which they were talking about killing left no doubts in the Nara's mind about whether or not they would go through with it. This clearly wasn't their first time spilling blood, and they had no qualms with doing it again.

Bravely or stupidly – the choice was debateable – Sakura chose that moment to re-intervene, garnering all the Oto genin's attention once more by throwing a trio of kunai at Dosu, the apparent leader of the Oto team. It did the job of taking their attention off the downed Lee, and they were once again approaching Sakura. "Lee's completely out of it, and it seems that Sasuke and Sai are just as banged up as him," Shikamaru began to explain softly, his brows knit in confusion. "No, that's not quite right. I don't know all the details, but it's clear something's happened to them."

Ino had remained fairly silent from the time they began watching the entire ordeal going on between Sakura and the Oto genin, and she had been trying – and failing miserably at that – to quell her shaking hands, but to no avail. She was scared out of her wits, and if that wasn't enough, she was scared for Sakura. Her once best friend was facing these monsters without batting an eyelid, and Ino could only awe at her friend's iron resolve. "And Sakura's facing them all on her own..."

The shakiness of her voice drew a worried frown from Shikamaru, who was finally coming to grips with the seriousness of the situation. "I'd personally prefer to observe for a little longer, but I don't know if we have the liberty of time on our side." Letting out a soft wearisome sigh, he glanced to his right at the shaking blonde beside him and frowned in worry. "What do you wanna do Ino?"

The blonde in question slowly turned to him with an incredulous look, her green-blue eyes wide with surprise. "What are you asking me for?! It's not like there's anything I could actually do to help! I'd just get killed out there!"

Shikamaru recoiled at her harsh tone, but his frown never dropped, and he just continued to stare at her. "Well she was your friend once wasn't she? If we don't do something now, she'll be done for!" He gulped audibly and stared into her green-blue eyes. 'Also, I'd rather not incur your demonic wrath, so I'm giving you the reins here.' He didn't dare give voice to that thought though, lest he incur that wrath he was thinking about.

Ino just turned to look at him once more, her legs now having joined in on the shaking spree her hands were going on. "W-Well what could we possibly do?!" She shut her eyes in frustration and held her fists tight at her side, hoping upon hopes that she could get it to stop shaking. "I'm scared Shika, and I just don't know what to do..."

Her voice was just as shaky as before, if not more so, but before he could comment on the distress his female teammate was going through, a whimper from Chōji drew his attention, and glancing in the direction his rotund friend was looking, he found the cause, getting his own eyes to widen in concern.

Sakura was kneeling on the ground, her hair being fisted tightly by the female Oto genin, and she looked to be in a world of pain. Listening to what they were saying, it sounded like they were gonna kill Sasuke right in front of her eyes, making her watch the whole agonising ritual of ending his life just to make her suffer more. These guys were monsters in every sense of the word, and it didn't help that they hadn't jumped in to help her yet. Them just sitting here, watching as it all happened could be considered just as bad, if not worse. The guilt welled up in his stomach, but he couldn't make himself move to go and help. He was shaking just as much as Ino was, and he was just as scared. His body was paralysed with fear; pretty ironic considering he was the one who usually did the paralysing.

Balling his fists at his sides, he looked up again only to wish that he hadn't. It only made him feel worse, watching as the pink haired genin from Team Kakashi began crying, tears openly falling from her eyes. He could see Ino's eyes glossing over with a thin layer of moisture as well, looking to be on the verge of crying herself, but his eyes were drawn back to the clearing, his muscles still completely unmoving. The Oto genin by the name of Zaku began advancing on Sasuke, drawing nearer to the downed genin who was lying sheltered within the trunk of a massive tree, and Shikamaru braced himself for what was to come, not being able to tear his eyes away.

But that's when the most bizarre thing happened, and his entire team widened their eyes in shock when Sakura withdrew a kunai and sliced through her pink hair. Her hitai-ate and strands of pink locks drifted slowly towards the ground below, impacting the dirt with a small clang, and in a strange turn of events, Sakura began fighting back, taking on the Oto genin all on her lonesome.

She was doing fairly well too, and managed to outsmart Zaku with some clever usage of the _Kawarimi_ _no Jutsu __**(Substitution Technique)**_. But that's when things started to turn pear-shaped once again, and as Sakura clung to the Oto genin's arm with naught but her jaw, she was pounded on relentlessly, Zaku nailing her on the head several times over with his fist. With one more forceful blow, Zaku managed to detach Sakura from his arm and threw her a good couple metres away from him, rubbing gingerly at his forearms before aiming his hands in Sakura's direction, his face set in a menacing snarl.

"Oh this is bad!" Chōji cried out softly, whipping his head in Shikamaru and Ino's direction, his eyes pleading. "What should we do?! She's gonna get creamed if we just stand here! It's now or never!"

Shikamaru turned his gaze from Chōji to Ino, his expression dire. "So what's it gonna be Ino?! We need to act, and we need to do it now if we're gonna stop this!" He couldn't keep the urgency from his voice, and it surprised him just as much as it surprised his teammates. He hadn't known Sakura nearly as well as Ino, but he found himself worrying just as much over her as he would his own teammates, a strange feeling of camaraderie washing over him.

Ino's mind was a torrent of emotions, and she fumbled with her hands as she continued to stare at Sakura's helpless form. She withdrew a kunai from her pouch however and shakily brought it up, glancing at Chōji and Shikamaru out of the corner of her eye and nodding shakily. "O-Okay guys, come on, Sakura needs our help, so let's—"

Her courageous words were cut off as a small gust of wind rustled the nearby bushes and howled sharply through the midnight air, and the form of Zaku went sailing through the air towards his two teammates, a small whelp escaping his lips. And then in another howl of wind, a whiskered blonde appeared before Sakura, standing firmly between her and her attackers.

"N-Naruto?!" Shikamaru's surprise caught both his teammates' attention, and just like that their resolve had faded and they were once again hiding behind the bushes, opting to rather observe for the time being. "What's he doing here? And where's the rest of his team?"

Ino let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding, and she looked on towards the blonde who had appeared out of nowhere with a sorrowful look. 'Please... please save her Naruto... do what I was too scared to...' A feeling of shame tugged at her heart, but she couldn't bring herself to get back onto her feet. She felt useless, and she watched quietly to see what would come of the battle.

XxX

Naruto had been watching the fight for quite a while, but had smartly decided to keep his distance at the behest of Kurama. It had been the fox's plan to wait out the scuffle, let the two teams fight it out, and after one took out the other, he would swoop in and take out the weakened team. But Naruto had vehemently declined, especially after seeing that it was one of the other rookie teams, just like him. He agreed to watch however, and held out as long as he could. But once the one named Zaku had begun beating down on a defenceless Sakura, his blood began to boil, and after she was thrown across the clearing, it had been the last straw.

Unable to continue observing, Naruto moved in and roundhouse-kicked the Oto genin away towards the rest of his team, pulling up defensively in front of Sakura, leading to his current position. "Who the fuck are you?!" cried the now fuming Zaku, nursing his throbbing jaw from his position on the ground with an angry snarl.

Naruto ignored the genin and glanced behind him at the downed Sakura, his eyes perusing over the cuts and slowly forming bruises on her face, the trails of blood freely dripping from her nose and the various cuts aforementioned. His eyes softened as her large wide green eyes gazed up at him, and he found himself bending down to the ground, his right hand extended to her. "I think this is yours."

The kunoichi from Team Kakashi glanced towards the extended hand, and her eyes widened minutely as she spied her hitai-ate in his hand, a small grateful smile tugging at her lips. "T-Thanks—Naruto, was it?"

Naruto nodded softly, helping her to her feet and gently placing a soldier pill from his rear pouch in her hand. "Yep, that's my name." He offered her a small smile before frowning worriedly at her. "Are you all right?" Oh, he could see that she was most definitely not all right, but it was all he could think to say besides pointing our her obvious cuts and bruises and the way her face was starting to swell. A miniscule amount of guilt pooled in the pit of his stomach, gnawing at his emotions that he let things go this far. But he was here now, and he was gonna help.

She nodded meekly at him, and he offered her a small smile again before turning around to face the team of Oto genin. "I had decided to mind my own business and stay out of this fight..." His face morphed into an angry snarl and he clenched his fists at his sides as he looked at the smug looking Oto genin before him, his fury clear as day in the darkness of the night. "But you self-righteous assholes went too far, and now I'm making this my business! Not just Sakura, but Rock Lee as well. There's a score to be settled, and it will be settled."

Zaku got back onto his feet and spat a glob of saliva at the ground, glaring in the newly arrival's direction with a mocking smile. "Ha! Don't get all high and mighty there Blondie! You're gonna pay for that lucky shot you landed earlier!"

The leader of the Oto genin, Dosu, took a step forward and held out his hand in front of the outraged Zaku, an inquisitive frown reflecting in his only visible eye. "You never answered Zaku's question, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious. So who are you, and which village are you from?"

Naruto didn't answer at first, just staring at the opposition ahead of him with those same fury-filled eyes, his heavy breathing being the only sound within the clearing. Slowly withdrawing his two trench knives, he held them out in front of him in a reverse grip and missed the way that an aura of orange chakra began wafting off his body. "It really doesn't matter who I am or which village I'm from! Just know that I'm gonna be the one to kick your guys' asses!"

Kurama felt the slight tugging of his chakra, but instead of informing Naruto, he opted to calmly observe the consequences of the blonde using his chakra. It was clear the seal was designed in order to allow Naruto to use the fox's chakra, the way that it was slowly melding their chakra's into one, but he was just as intrigued by this development as he was about the seal itself, so he just watched quietly from his usual perch.

When jinchūriki drew on a certain amount of the chakra of their respective tailed beasts, the bijū's very own psyche would fuse along with it, resulting in an inner struggle with the jinchūriki as they drew on more of their beast's chakra. But in Kurama's case, he had given up on most of the hatred he had previously harboured, and he considered Naruto a partner in every sense of the word, so there was a lack of that inner struggle that would usually accompany the use of a tailed beast's chakra. The results were unknown to him, and he hoped this battle could shed a little light on the subject.

Naruto dug the balls of his feet into the ground, preparing to push off at the still crouched Zaku, but a gentle hand on his shoulder gave him pause, and he looked back to find Sakura behind him with a trio of shuriken in one hand, and a determined look in her green eyes. "I-I'm gonna help too. My teammates have done enough for me already, and I don't wanna be a burden to them any longer. So just leave the girl to me. Please."

Naruto found himself staring at Sakura a little longer than he'd planned, but something in the way she wanted to prove herself to her teammates struck a chord with him, and he couldn't help but allow her to take the girl. He figured she'd be okay on her own, so he gave her that same small smile and nodded softly. "She's all yours Sakura. I'll take the asshole with 'death' written all over his shirt. Something tells me the guy in the back covered in bandages isn't gonna interfere much."

She nodded in his direction and turned her attention onto the sole female of the Oto team, spitting out a small glob of blood that had pooled in her mouth. "It's time for some payback you bitch. I was kind of fond of my long hair, and it's your fault I had to cut it. How about I return the favour?" she finished with a devilish grin, pulling out a kunai in her free hand.

'Oh shit... cat fight!' The way she was speaking sent chills down Naruto's spine, and he momentarily contemplated whether letting her help was a good idea. But that thought was thrown out just as quickly as it had come, and Naruto found himself staring at Zaku once again, an angry glint tinting his cerulean-blue eyes. "Let's get started then."

In a burst of speed that Naruto hadn't quite felt before without the use of his _Fūton: Shunshin **(Wind Release: Body Flicker)**_, he took off at the form of Zaku, his trench knives raised to the side and primed to strike. But if Zaku was surprised by Naruto's initial charge, he didn't show it, and brought up his own two kunai to intercept, the two battling to see who could physically throw the other. No ground was gained or lost in their struggle, and Naruto found the lack of progress slightly annoying.

So with a small grin, he halted his forward momentum and allowed himself to be pushed backwards, rolling onto his back and grinning even wider as he brought his legs up and into the stomach of a now winded Zaku, sending the Oto genin careening into a massive tree trunk behind him. Naruto sent a cursory glance to the supposed leader of the Oto team, but the boy named Dosu seemed more intrigued by the battle than anything else, not showing any outward concern for his teammate's life. 'Why am I not surprised—"

"_Zankūha __**(Decapitating Airwaves)**__!_"

A controlled stream of highly pressurised air struck Naruto clean in the chest, shooting him in the opposite direction that his assailant had just been flung. Naruto impacted solidly with the trunk of another tree, his body denting the bark and sending a shower of splinters and dust into the surrounding atmosphere.

His body ached from the physical force of the attack, and he dropped into a crouch in front of the tree, wiping at his mouth as a line of blood dribbled down his chin. "Ha! We were only supposed to take care of the Uchiha, but if you're ready to die so badly then that's fine by me Blondie!" The cackling form of Zaku slowly materialised through the thick layer of dirt and debris that Naruto had found himself behind, and he was sporting a mocking grin, looking fairly undamaged.

Naruto spat out any lingering blood and slowly rose to his feet again, feeling any lingering pain from his previous brush with the tree trunk ebbing away. His brows knit in confusion as he watched the small scrapes along his arms slowly vanish before his eyes, but he didn't have much time to think on it before the Oto genin was up in his face again, sending a punch straight at his face.

Naruto dodged the punch and sent in his own counter attack, the two becoming a flurry of taijutsu strikes and counters. There movements and speed was fairly even, and whoever this guy's sensei was had taught him well. His taijutsu was more than above average, and Naruto found himself having to keep complete concentration in order to continue to match Zaku blow for blow.

Their exchange finally came to an end as Zaku jumped away, landing in a defensive position and huffing exhaustedly. The Oto genin frowned warily though when the blonde looked no worse for wear than when they'd begun their exchange, and he clicked his tongue in irritation. 'I'm sure I did more damage to this blonde joker than that! I guess I just need something that packs a little more of a punch.' With a confident smirk gracing his lips, the Oto genin raised his arms and directed them at the whiskered-blonde, the small tubes in the palms of his hands making themselves visible.

Naruto's eyes widened as he assumed this to be the build up of the same jutsu he'd received earlier, and with a small curse he clapped his own hands together, standing his ground and building up his own chakra.

"_Zankūha __**(Decapitating Airwaves)**__!_"

"_Fūton: Repūshō __**(Wind Release: Gale Palm)**__!_"

The two techniques clashed in a struggle of dominance, the air pressure between the two techniques creating a roaring rumble in the clearing. The struggle seemed pretty evenly matched once again, just like with their taijutsu before, but the struggle on Naruto's part became all too clear, and he was hard pressed to keep pushing. His technique wasn't meant for a constant push like he was using it, but rather a once off gust of controlled wind.

So it came as no surprise when Naruto eventually lost the ability to keep his jutsu going, diving into a roll to avoid the jet stream that was billowing towards his previous position with a vicious fury. He managed to dodge the gust of pressurised air that blew into his previous position, kicking up another torrent of dirt and leaves and obscuring their line's of sight.

"Ha! Your wind techniques are useless against my sound waves!"

Naruto didn't want to admit it, but the Oto genin was right. The jutsu that Zaku was using was powerful, and Naruto knew that he didn't have any kind of wind techniques that could go up against the sheer force behind it. Weaponry wouldn't work either, because he'd just blow them right back with his jutsu. And then a light bulb blinked on inside Naruto's mind, and as the dust began to clear, he focused his eyes on the palms of Zaku's hands. And just like he thought he'd seen, there were two small tube-like protrusions in the centre of his palms.

The technique Zaku had used may have looked like wind-style, but it wasn't. He'd said so himself. It was sound waves. As a wind-style user himself, Naruto would have felt the lingering wind-natured chakra in the atmosphere. But he could feel no such thing from the Oto genin. The fact that it wasn't a wind-style technique only further proved that Zaku needed those tube-like protrusions on his hands to produce his jutsu, and with that in mind, Naruto had the perfect plan.

He slowly got back up onto his feet, dusting himself off and tightening his bandanna before scoffing mockingly at the spiky-haired Oto genin. "Is that the best you've got?" the whiskered blonde taunted grandly, crossing his arms non-chalantly. "You seem pretty proud of those arms of yours, but they're really not all that great," Naruto pressed with a hidden grin, watching as a small tick mark began forming on the Oto genin's forehead. 'One more little push should tip him over the edge and into a seething fit.' The thought brought a grin to his face, and he couldn't hide the face-splitting smile this time. "They seem to be more of a crutch to replace your lack of talent than anything else."

Crack. That had been the last straw, and the Oto genin's teeth were gnashing together in a quiet rage, his fists clenched at his sides as his whole body shook softly. "That's it! Who gives a fuck about that blasted Uchiha?!" he roared in outrage, scowling heatedly in Naruto's direction. "I'll blow you into a million tiny little pieces you blonde fuck!"

Zaku once again raised his arms to prepare his jutsu, and Naruto could feel the significantly larger amount of chakra he was placing into the technique. Subconsciously drawing on more of Kurama's chakra, a slightly darker hue of orange chakra surrounded Naruto's body, and he quickly formed three hand seals, bringing his right hand up to his mouth and taking in a large breath of air. He would only get a few shots at this, so he needed to make them count.

"_Zankūkyokuha __**(Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)**__!_"

"_Fūton: Shinkūgyoku __**(Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)**__!_"

"Your wind style attacks won't work on me!" Zaku cried loudly after hearing the blonde's jutsu, a wicked smirk flittering across his face. "Didn't you realise that—"

Zaku's breath caught in his throat as searing hot pain flooded his body, having missed the small marble-sized spheres of compressed air that had zipped his way. They had been hidden under the cover of his massive jutsu, but he felt them all too clearly. The blonde had somehow managed to fire the spheres of air right into the tubes he was firing out of, and due to their small size and dense nature, the spheres had cut right through his jutsu and straight into his arms.

The sudden influx of compressed air forced the power of his own technique back into the tubes, causing the tenketsu along his arms to begin bursting outwards in small little geysers of blood. A piercing scream of unbridled pain ripped through the clearing, and all the onlookers observed in morbid disgust as the tenketsu along Zaku's arms burst one after the other in what looked like a chain reaction of bloody fountains.

His scream eventually died all together, his mouth open in a silent howl of suffering before he flopped onto his knees and then his stomach, passed out from the searing pain he'd just experienced. The grass and dirt all around his body was caked in his lifeblood, but he was miraculously still breathing if the somewhat strained rising and dropping of his stomach was any indication.

The whiskered blonde who'd caused all this pain had not escaped the torturous sensation himself, peeling his body off a massive boulder that he'd been blown into, a steady stream of blood dribbling down his forehead. His body was covered in scrapes and deep cuts from all the second-hand debris that had been blown into him, and his sleeveless shirt and trousers were ripped in several places, the only thing still intact being the black bandanna around his head.

"Holy, *pant*, shit..." Naruto breathed softly, dropping his hands onto his knees and leaning forward, his energy thoroughly spent. By all rights he should've been knocked out cold by the force of Zaku's jutsu, not to mention that he'd just smashed head first into the boulder he'd just peeled himself off of. **_'You can thank me later gaki, but we seem to have made a modicum of progress with regards to you using my chakra,'_** the fox cut in, giving a quick run down of the how. **_'But we shall discuss that later, you still have company, so do not drop your guard.'_**

Naruto nodded and huffed tiredly once again, his face literally feeling as if someone was pouring liquid flames all over it. He supposed being blown in the face with compressed air in the quantities that he'd experienced did that to a person, but still. This shit was intense!

A surprised outcry of 'Zaku' startled Naruto back into awareness, and he glanced to his right to see Dosu landing beside his male teammate, a worried look in his lone eye. The gesture threw Naruto a bit, who'd assumed that these Oto guys didn't really care for one another. But here was their team leader, his concern for his teammate all too clear as he double-checked for a pulse from Zaku.

The bandaged Oto genin breathed a small sigh of relief before rounding on the whiskered blonde with a fury filled eye. His mouth began to open in what Naruto could only assume was no doubt going to contain a string of profanity, but he was cut off as his female teammate dropped down onto the ground beside Zaku. The only problem being that she was unconscious. A good portion of her black hair was missing from her head, and another portion of it was still smouldering softly as if it had been set alight earlier.

Dosu's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden turn of events, and he had to bend down once again to make sure that his other teammate was still breathing. It was in that same second that Sakura landed beside him in a crouch, her breath coming out in ragged huffs. She looked like she'd been through even more hell than before, and her right arm was hanging limply at her side, a couple senbon sticking out the appendage.

She tried to smile at Naruto in what he could only assume was reassurance, but it came out as more of a grimace than anything. "She was... one tough customer... but she underestimated me right from the beginning... so I suppose I got lucky with taking her down."

Naruto placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, waving her off. "Hey, give yourself some credit. I'm sure it was no walk in the park, but good job. Now we've just got one left," the blonde explained, glancing at Dosu and gripping tightly on the trench knife in his free hand.

Dosu rose to his feet again once he was sure that his two teammates were alive, just unconscious, and he snarled angrily in the remaining two shinobi's direction. "You two—"

The bandaged shinobi was cut off once again as a massive chakra began radiating through the clearing, and all eyes glanced in the direction that they'd no doubt felt the presence. In a swirling vortex of potent purple chakra, the silhouette of one Uchiha Sasuke became visible, a pulsating seal crawling along his skin before settling into a flamed pattern.

His blood red Sharingan eyes were glowing ominously in the darkness of the night, his lips pulled into an uncharacteristically maniacal smirk, his teeth reflecting eerily in the moonlight. "So, Sakura, who's the person that did that to you?"

* * *

_**Jutsu List:**_

* * *

__Kasumi Jūsha no Jutsu __**(Mist Servant Technique)**__

The **Mist Servant Technique** is a genjutsu that creates eerie black ninja illusions of the caster, appearing from all around the enemy. When the illusions are struck, they multiply into further numbers, and the genjutsu will wear out the enemy, allowing the caster to swoop in and finish off the exhausted enemy.

___Zankūha __**(Decapitating Airwaves)**___

The **Decapitating Airwaves **technique is a jutsu specially utilised by Zaku, who uses the air tubes in his palms to control the ratio of air pressure and sound via his chakra. He creates supersonic blasts of air by propelling this combination of air and sound.

_Zankūkyokuha __**(Extreme Decapitating Airwaves)**_

The **Extreme Decapitating Airwaves** technique is simply a much larger scale version of the **Decapitating Airwaves** technique, which can level an entire area.

___Fūton: Shinkūgyoku __**(Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere)**___

The user takes a deep breath of air and fires out several small marble-sized balls of compressed wind chakra. Due to the properties of **Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere**, the expelled blasts are capable of piercing into and potentially through an opponent's flesh when they collide.

* * *

_**AN: Well guys, that's the chapter. Sorry about that gory bit, it just seemed to fit the situation. In light of that, do you guys still feel that a T rating for this story is appropriate, because I've come to realise that I add a lot of swearing in too :D Let me know if you think I should bump it up to an M rating :) Also, just a reminder, almost at 100 reviews, so let's make that final push! :D**_

_**I found myself taking a bit if a liking to Sakura while writing this chapter, but don't worry, there won't be any kind of pairing there. But I felt that she would've been able to take on Kin, granted she was being underestimated, but I think it's plausible. I'll also explain the details behind Naruto's slight use of Kurama's chakra in the next chapter hopefully, and if not the next one then the one after. I know he may have seemed a little weakened, but the way I saw it, was that he was only using a bit of Kurama's chakra, and therefore only the healing aspects of it. I didn't want him to seem overpowered at all, but I might have had the opposite effect and weakened him too much =P**_

_** But I think there will only be one more chapter for the second phase of the chunin exams, maybe even only half a chapter with the other half moving on with the story, but I'll see what comes to mind. I was requested to maybe write another confrontation with some kind of animals just like with the baboons, so if you guys wanna see something like that let me know :)**_

_**I hope the fight was all right, it wasn't all that long, but I did my best. And Sasuke is up and kicking, so we'll see what happens with him next chapter ;)**_

_**On to my ramblings... have any of you guys seen the Naruto OVA 11, Sunny Side Battle?! It's so hilarious, it's with Itachi... I won't give anything away, but if you haven't, do yourselves a favour and go watch it :D You'll really enjoy it, I guarantee :)**_

**_Well, that's me guys, hope the chapter wasn't too bad, and hope it doesn't put you guys off for next chapter :D Till next time..._**


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